Catedra de Limba si Literatura englez

Methodology, English majors, year II

TEACHER, CLASSROOM AND SCHOOL

Introduction
A course in EFL Methodologyis the initial step on the journey of professional
development in which your teaching skills develop alongside an emerging understanding
of the teaching and learning process and the education system in which it operates. This
journey of discovery may come to an end only when you retire, as teachers are expected
to undertake further professional development throughout their career.
This course will enable you to start developing your personal understanding of the
teaching and learning process, it will help you acieve a grasp of the nature, significance
or explanation of what is going on in an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) class,
comprehend your own practice better and develop into a reflective practitioner. A
reflective teacher makes conscious decisions about teaching strategies and adjusts
practice in the light of experience.
Society is constantly changing and, consequently, the demands society places on
teachers change. As your career progresses you will understand you need new skills and
knowledge about teaching and learning; so you can expect to continue to learn
throughout your professional life. Professional development is a lifelong process which is
based on input, regular reflection on practice and continuing education.
Teaching is a complex activity and is considered both an art and a science.
Although certain elements of teaching can be mastered through learning and practice, not
everything helps you to become an effective teacher, as there is no correct way of
teaching, no single set of skills, techniques and procedures that can be mastered and
applied mechanically. This is due to pupil individual differences and to the specific yet
ever-changing teaching context in which teachers operate. Moreover, every teacher is an
individual who brings something of their unique personality and style. An effective teacher
is one who can integrate theory with practice, use personal professional judgement and
use structured reflection to improve practice. However, establishing a productive learning
environment is a big challenge for teachers. For beginning teachers, it may be the
primary concern. Studies show that nearly half of the teachers who leave the profession
during the first three years do so because of problems with managing pupils and their
learning.
Based on the theoretical input that this course offers, on the practical experience
that you will start to accumulate during your practical training, and your own reflective
activity you will begin to develop your own theory of teaching and learning. More
theoretical input will come from tutors and other teachers and print- and web-based
resources. Some theory will also arise from practice as every teacher has a theory of how
to teach effectively and of how pupils learn. Even if some teachers do not spend a lot of
time examining their own views and practices, or they cannot articulate their philosophy,
even if they are not fully aware of it, this is implicit in what they do.
Everyone has their own view of what teachers do; this is partially formed by their
own experience as learners, the literary and media-inspired images and the passage of
time. The fact is that nobody enters teaching as a blank slate: you have all experienced
education yourselves and this has shaped your particular views of what teachers are and
do. These views are central to your development as a teacher, although not all of them
are valid or useful in the current school system and the demands it places on teachers.
The views of what teachers are and do are social and cultural constructs and vary from
culture to culture, from one social groups to another and across eras. However, ther will
always be at least three categories of people interested in what teachers do: teachers,
pupils, and parents.
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This course unit and the next will help you establish and maintain a productive and
orderly learning environment, i.e. a classroom that is safe, orderly and focussed on
learning. Such an environment will enable your pupils to feel safe and to learn as much
as possible. Their shared classroom routines, values, expectations, learning experiences,
rules and procedures will increase their engagement, their sense of autonomy and will
enhance the use of the instructional time. All this will result in their improved achievement
and motivation and in your job satisfaction.
After you have completed the study of this unit, you should be able to:
explain what a professional teacher is;
explain how you can enable your pupils to learn English more happily and
effectively
describe how the class atmosphere can assist language learning
identify the qualities of a good learner of English
identify essential teaching skills that help promote learning
identify the talents and skills of a good teacher of English
explain how creating and teaching rules can eliminate management problems
Key Concepts: professionalism in teaching, teachers pastoral role, productive
and orderly learning environment, formal classroom learning, teaching vs. learning,
characteristics of classroom activities, good English learner profile, building a good
atmosphere, means for including all pupils in the activities, types of knowledge needed by
the teacher, types of classroom time, essential teaching skills, language ability, practical
classroom skills, factors affecting learning, guidelines for beginning the school year,
establishing classroom rules

The Teacher as Individual and as Professional

There are as many ways of being an effective teacher as there are effective
teachers. Your initial teacher education will provide opportunities for you to explore
individually what kind of teacher you wish to be, to understand the context in which you
will be working and the demands placed upon you as a teacher.
Think First!
Before continuing to read this text, think back to your own
schooldays and the teachers you had. What do you remember
about them? What did they do? Who are the teachers you most
liked and why? Which teachers did you least like and why?

Almost certainly the answers you have just given identify personality issues:
enthusiasm, intelligence, humour, disinterest, eccentricity, conformity, efficiency,
incompetence, or professionalism, as teaching is a personal profession.
Generally speaking, a professional is someone whose work involves performing
a certain function with some degree of expertise. However, a narrower definition limits the
term to apply to people such as teachers, doctors, and lawyers, whose expertise involves
not only skill and knowledge but also the exercise of highly sophisticated judgement, and
whose accreditation necessitates extensive study, university-based, as well as practical
experience.
One opposite of professional is lay. While members of a professional group
posses certain skills, knowledge, and conventions, the lay population do not have these.
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Professionals communicate between themselves employing vocabulary that is not readily

comprehensible to a lay person. For instance, an English teachers jargon includes words
and formulas such as: cloze, i+1, TEFL, L2, EAP, ESP, AmE, BrE, CAE, etc. The
professional community of English teachers has developed means of consolidating
relationships between its members and created opportunities for them to benefit from
each others knowledge, such as associations (IATEFL, RATE, MATE, TESOL) and
conferences. More opportunities for self development are offered by thinking critically
about yourself, by identifying aspects of your professional performance which you want to
improve. Opportunities for self-development may also be offered by attending refresher
courses, classes in art, music or drama, by joining a local library, arranging to work with
teacher colleagues, finding out what local organisations exist and asking what they can
do to help, reading books about teaching, etc.
Another opposite of professional is amateur. The difference between the two
is based on consistent differences in performance in the field, involving the quality of
preparatory and ongoing learning, standards and commitment.
Professionalism means preparing oneself to do a competent job through
learning, including preservice and in-service courses, reflection on experience, reading,
observation, discussions with colleagues, writing, research. Such learning continues
throughout the professionals working life. The professional also recognises certain
standards: of knowledge (of the subject and of its methodology), of dedication and hard
work, of behaviour and of relationships with learners and parents and other professionals.
Some of these standards are maintained through compulsory examinations and
nationally and/or internationally recognised qualifications.
A third opposite of professional is technician. The technician, craftsman, or
artisan performs certain acts with skill and becomes more skilful as time goes on, through
practice. The professional has not only to acquire certain skills, but also to be able to take
courses of action that are based on knowledge and thought, as distinct from automatic
routines. Beyond this, s/he has to understand the principles underlying both automatic
and consciously designed action, and be able to articulate them, relate them to each
other, and innovate. We could say that a native English speaker is a technician, in the
sense that s/he is skilled in speaking English.
Yet another opposite term of professional may be academic. An academic can
be defined as a researcher, lecturer, and writer, usually based in a university. A teacher is
essentially a bringer-about of real-world change; s/he prioritises real-time action whereas
the academic prioritises thought. The distinction is thus one of emphasis and priorities
rather than of substance. Research and thinking by the academic may not always apply
or be relevant to professional practice while what works for a professional may not be for
the academic a worthwhile or generalisable scientific hypothesis. There is, obviously
much to learn from one another but the priorities are definitely different.
Above all, the English teacher is in principle a professional. They cannot only
speak the language, but can also explain why it works the way it does and what different
bits of it mean, and knows how to mediate it to learners in a form that they can grasp
and learn. The teacher also knows how to manage classrooms and relationships. All
these are thoughtfully evolved and flexible sets of professional behaviours. The
combination of these kinds of knowledge enables the experienced teacher to make
informed and appropriate real-time decisions. The teacher is essentially a professional
engaged in bringing about real-world change, who may on occasion undertake academic
research. The two endeavours are different, but mutually beneficial and equally to be
respected.
The teachers job is first and foremost to ensure that pupils learn. The English
teachers first and foremost job is to ensure that pupils learn English. To a large extent,
what the pupils should learn is determined though legislation and the requirements are
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set out in the national curriculum and various other national documents. On the other
hand, how you teach so that pupils learn effectively (i.e. methods, approaches,
strategies, activities, interaction patterns, some of the materials used) is left to the
judgment of the individual teacher. There is no single, correct way to teach. For effective
learning to take place, a whole range of approaches, from formal to experiential, can be
used.
On the surface, teaching may appear to be a relatively simple process and many
people think that school and learning only mean a teacher standing at the front of the
class teaching and the pupils sitting in rows listening and learning. This kind of
perception is based on several assumptions. One assumption is that most of the learning
takes place in the classroom.
However, throughout the world, the majority of English language learning takes
place outside the classroom. Learners are exposed to English in the course of their
everyday life: they interact with other English speakers, listen to the radio and TV, read
newspapers, write letters, socialize, etc., in a word, they do things with English. This
process of learning often involves five steps: (1) doing something; (2) recalling what
happened; (3) reflecting on that; (4) drawing conclusions; (5) using those conclusions to
inform and prepare for future practical experience:
do
prepare

conclude

recall

reflect
The experiential learning circle
(after Scrivener, 2008:3)

Information, guidance and support from other people may come in at any of the
five steps of the cycle (the experiential learning cycle), but the essential learning
experience is in doing the thing yourself. And yet, formal classroom learning may suit
better some kinds of learners. These prefer that the responsibility of learning be taken
away from them.
As an English teacher, you must bear in mind that you are responsible for
organising the learning of all pupils within the classroom, but you must also train them
in good strategies to enable them to continue learning outside the classroom. You must
develop in your pupils habits of independence and autonomy, preparing them to organise
their own learning and to exploit other sources of language outside the classroom.
Another assumption is that the teacher is the knower and has the task of
passing over this knowledge to the pupils. This is sometimes characterised as jug and
mug the knowledge being poured from one receptacle into another empty one. There
seems to be yet another assumption here: having something explained or demonstrated
will automatically lead to learning.
However, when the teacher is teaching, it is unclear how much learning is taking
place. In fact, teaching and learning need to be clearly distinguished. It is quite possible
for a teacher to put great effort in to his/her teaching and for no learning to take place;
similarly, a teacher could apparently be doing nothing, but the students be learning a
great deal.

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Think first!
Before reading on, make a list of the thoughts that may be
present in the pupils heads while the teacher is teaching. Here are
a few suggestions:
Im not involved at all.
Im tired of sitting on this chair.
I havent said anything for hours.
Long explanations are so dull I just turn off.
I dont understand and now shes talking about something else.
Id rather do something different.
Teachers going too fast.
Its not an interesting subject.
Im not doing anything myself.
Could you add a few more positive thoughts?
Actually, what happens is that each pupil will receive his/her own lesson.
Teaching is only one factor in what is learned. As a teacher, one cannot learn for
her/his students. Only they can do that. What the teacher can do is to help create the
conditions in which they might be able to learn. This means involving the students,
enabling them to work at their own speed, by not giving long explanations, by
encouraging them to participate, talk, interact, etc. In the classroom, frequency, pace and
order of exposure to English is determined by a syllabus and/or a coursebook, and the
teacher determines the learning activities. The control by the teacher of the organization
of the classroom provides support to the learners lacking in motivation or confidence.
Nevertheless, the same control may be a source of frustration to other learners, who
know both what and how they want to learn.

Teachers Roles
Being a teacher involves the assumption of two important roles: organising
learning (an academic role) and guiding and supervising pupils (a pastoral one).
The academic role encompasses a variety of activities including:

subject teaching
lesson preparation
setting and marking of homework
monitoring pupil progress
assessing pupil progress in a variety of ways, including marking tests and exams
writing reports
recording achievement
working as part of a subject team
curriculum development and planning
undertaking visits, field courses
reporting to parents
planning and implementing school policies
extra-curricular activities
being an examiner for public examination boards
keeping up to date, and so on
(after Capel, Leask and Turner 2009: 13)

Apart from the academic aspect, another aspect of teaching is the pastoral one. A
teacher is not only an expert in a subject but also a responsible adult in charge of the
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spiritual and moral welfare of the pupils. In this role, which may vary from school to
school, you may be involved in pastoral actions (dirigenie) that include:

getting to know pupils as individuals

helping pupils with problems;
being responsible for a form (being a classmaster/classmistress)
registering the class, following up absence
monitoring sanctions and rewards given to form members
reinforcing school rules and routines, e.g. on behaviour
writing reports, ensuring records of achievement and/or profiles are up to date
teaching lessons of personal, social and health education
organising house keeping activities
liaising with parents
ensuring school information is conveyed to parents via pupils
giving careers and subject guidance
extra-curricular activities, e.g. educational trips
liaising with other schools (e.g. primary, upper-secondary)

Professional Expertise
Classroom teaching is only the visible part of the job of the teacher. The invisible
foundations of the teachers work are, according to Capel, Leask and Toner, 2009,
professional knowledge and professional judgement (routines, skills, strategies which
support effective teaching). A teachers professional expertise includes:

planning of a sequence of lessons to ensure learning progresses and planning

for a specific lesson
evaluation of precious lesson
planning and preparation for the lesson
established routines and procedures which ensure that the work of the class
proceeds as planned
personality, including the teachers ability to capture and hold the interest of the
class, to establish their authority
professional knowledge such as subject content knowledge: pedagogic
knowledge about effective teaching and learning; knowledge of learners;
knowledge about the educational context in which you work
professional judgement built up over time though reflection on experience.
(Capel, Leask, Turner, 2009: 12)
A teacher is expected to develop confidence and higher levels of competence in all
these areas. Teaching requires you to transform the professional knowledge and
judgement you posses into suitable tasks which lead to learning. This is sometimes called
pedagogic knowledge. Knowing a lot about your subject does not automatically make
you into an effective teacher.
Think first!
Before reading the following section, make a list of the
knowledge and skills that you consider to be essential for any
teacher.

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Professional knowledge is built from a number of different components:

Content knowledge: the content that is to be taught (important concepts and skills,
and knowing how the concepts and skills are structured and organised within the
subject).
General pedagogic knowledge: broad principles and strategies of classroom
management and organisation that apply irrespective of the subject.
Curriculum knowledge: the materials and programmes that serve as tools of the
trade for teachers.
Pedagogical content knowledge: the knowledge of what makes effective teaching
and deep learning (the basis for the selection, organisation and presentation of the
content); the integration of content and pedagogy for teaching the subject. This
includes: knowledge about the purposes of teaching a subject at different grade
levels; knowledge of pupils understanding, conceptions and misconceptions;
knowledge of curriculum materials available and knowledge of horizontal and
vertical curricula; knowledge of instructional strategies.
Knowledge of learners and their characteristics: age range (empirical and social
knowledge), cognitive knowledge of learners, knowledge of child development,
knowledge of a particular group of learners.
Knowledge of educational context: knowledge of a specific school, catchment
area, the wider community.
Knowledge of educational ends (aims), purposes, values and philosophical
and historical influences: both short and long term goals of education and of a
subject.

Knowing what kinds of knowledge a teacher needs to have is a starting point for
thinking about the complexity of the profession and about the professional knowledge that
you need to acquire.
Knowledge of content. You should know not only English but also be familiar
with the concepts used in the lessons and the skills the pupils are expected to acquire.
You amass this knowledge from a variety of sources: your education at home, at school,
at university, as well as though personal study and reading. All this knowledge will
influence the amount and organisation of knowledge you have. Content knowledge is
likely to be the area of greatest confidence for you as you begin teaching. You should
seek to extend the range of your content knowledge, as this process supports your
confidence for teaching and engages you with your subject on a personal level. However,
it is way you transform this knowledge into effective teaching that is most important
Pedagogical content knowledge. This a special amalgam between content
and pedagogy; it goes beyond knowledge of content in the direction of knowledge for
teaching: the ways of representing and formulating the subject that makes it
comprehensible to others. It involves knowledge of the most regularly taught topics, the
most useful forms of representations of those ideas, the most powerful analogies,
illustrations, examples, explanations, and demonstrations. It includes how you build
assessment into your planning so that feedback enhances your understanding of pupil
learning and enables you to plan the next lesson.
General pedagogical knowledge. This is the body of knowledge and
understanding that you need for the effective transformation of your content knowledge
into meaningful learning activities for pupils. This knowledge consists of broad principles
and strategies that are designed to guide classroom instruction, organisation and
management: settling a class, managing the learning environment for effective learning,
managing resources and other equipment, gaining and sustaining the attention and
interest of the class, encouraging the disaffected, supporting the less able and extending
the most able). It also requires you to adopt your content knowledge, planning for the
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immediate demands of teaching. You should know how to organise orderly classrooms
and use questioning skills that involve your pupils and lead to thorough understanding.
You also need to consider carefully how you should introduce pupils to processes (e.g.
writing reports or essays). By broadening your general pedagogic knowledge, your
classroom becomes a more varied and stimulating place for yourself and your pupils.
Curriculum knowledge. This is the full range of programmes designed for the
teaching of particular subjects and topics at a given level (programa analitic), the
variety of instructional materials available in relation to those programmes and the set of
characteristics that serve as both the indications and contraindications for the use of
particular curriculum or programme materials in particular circumstances. It includes
knowledge of the subject national curriculum and the requirements of public
examinations, such as the baccalureate.
Knowledge of learners and their charactersitics. There are different kinds
of knowledge of the learner. These include empirical or social knowledge of learners, (i.e.,
what children of a particular age range are like, how they behave in classrooms and
school, their interests and preoccupations, their social nature, how contextual factors
affect their work (e.g. weather, time of the day) and the nature of the pupil teacher
relationship. To these could be added the cognitive knowledge of the learners: knowledge
of child development and knowledge of the particular group(s) of learners that you work
with. This is a kind of knowledge that grows from regular contact with these learners, of
what they can and cannot know, do or understand. For instance, you should be able to
understand when your pupils need concrete examples and what kind of tasks increase
motivation and learning.
Knowledge of educational context. This refers to all settings where learning
takes place: schools, classrooms, nursery settings, universities, colleges, and the broader
educational context of the community and society. This knowledge ranges from the
workings of the group, classroom, school administration, to the character of communities
and cultures. It includes the range of teachiong contexts which affect the development
and classroom performance. These include the type and size of school, the catchment
area, the class size, the extent and quality of support for teachers, the amount of
feedback teachers receive on their performance, the quality of relationships in the school,
and the expectations and attitudes of the headteacher, as well as school policies, the
curriculum and assessment processes, monitoring and reporting, safety, school rules and
expecations of pupils and the hidden and informal curriculum which includes the values
demonstrated to pupils through the way the school is run.
Knowledge of educational ends (aims), purposes, values and
philosophical and historical influences. This includes the values and priorities which
shape the education pupils receive. Teaching has both short-term goals for a lesson or a
series of lessons, while education has long-term purposes (such as producing educated
people who can serve efficiently the needs of society).
All the aspects of professional knowledge are brought together in a personal
construct. This includes your values and assumptions about English (in your case) which
provides the basis of your work as a teacher. Positive attitudes are also fundamental to
effective teaching as personal teaching efficacy, energy, enthusiasm, caring and high
expectations promote pupil motivation.
Besides all the types of knowledge and attitudes, there are basic abilities that all
teachers should have to promote order and learning in the classroom.

Basic English Teaching Skills

Language Ability. Fluency and accuracy in English do not make anyone
automatically into a successful teacher of English. Many good teachers of English have a
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limited command of English. However, these teachers may have the advantage of
understanding better their pupils learning difficulties. The secret lies in being confident
about your English without being embarrassed about your lack of greater knowledge.
When your pupils will ask you Whats the English for .? and you do not know the
answer, it is better to say I dont know, but Ill find out for you rather than to try to avoid
answering the question. Do not feel embarrassed that you do not know every word of
English. Think of how many words of Romanian you do not know! We all continue to learn
throughout our lives. What is important is to work on improving the quality of the English
you use and want to teach your pupils. And there are lots of ways in which you can
develop your language skills.
Think First!
Before reading the following section, write down in the space
provided the answer to this question: What ways of improving
your classroom English can you think of now?

Here are a few solutions:

Make sure that you are familiar with the language in the lesson. The day before the
class, prepare the lesson by speaking out the words, phrases, and sentences, so
that you can hear how they sound. See if there are words which you have difficulty
in pronouncing, and try to get them right. If there is a cassette to be used with the
book, listen to the recording too, as this can help with pronunciation.
If you can, have regular meetings with other teachers of English to help each other
with the preparation of classes, and share with them your difficulties and your
successes. You may soon discover that each of you can gain something from the
experience of the others. There are also teachers clubs (cercuri) or teachers
centres (CCDs) where you may check up on anything you are unsure of by
asking colleagues or experts.
SAQ
How big an advantage is, in your opinion, the knowledge of an
English-speaking country? Explain why you think this is so.

Effective communication. There is a strong link between effective

communication, pupil achievement and pupil satisfaction. The way you interact with pupils
influences their motivation and attitudes toward school in general and English in
particular. Four aspects of effective communication are especially important: precise
terminology, connected discourse, transition signals and emphasis.

Precise terminology is language without vague terms, which would leave the pupils
with a sense of uncertainty and detract them from learning.
Connected discourse is talk that leads to a point. If the point of a lesson is not clear,
if your talk is sequenced inappropriately, if incidental information is included, discourse
becomes disconnected. Keep your lessons on track, minimising time spent on matters
unrelated to the topic.
Transition signals indicate that one idea or activity is ending and another is

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beginning (e.g. All right, now well turn to). They alert the pupils that the lesson is
making a shift and allow them to adjust and get prepared.
Emphasis consists of verbal (e.g. Listen carefully now) and vocal cues (such as
raising the voice) and repetition, which alert pupils to important information in a
lesson.
SAQ
What practical implications may terminology, connected
discourse, transition signals, and emphasis have for teachers?

Introductory focus attracts pupils attention and provides a framework for the
lesson. In addition, it can increase motivation by arousing curiosity. In an English lesson
you can use concrete objects, pictures, models, materials displayed around the room,
information written on the board all meant to maintain pupils attention during learning
activities. Use objects, photos, maps, charts, etc. to provide introductory and sensory
focus during your lessons.
Using questions, you can guide learning rather than simply deliver information. By
questioning you can assess pupil background knowledge, cause pupils to rethink their
ideas, help them form relationships. You can also involve shy pupils, recapture pupils
wandering attention, promote success, and enhance self-esteem. Questioning can also
maintain the pace and momentum of a lesson. Effective questioning

is frequent
is equitably distributed
uses prompting
allows adequate wait-time

Giving feedback. The information pupils receive about the accuracy or

appropriateness of their responses and work is crucial in promoting learning. Feedback
gives pupils information about the validity of their knowledge or skills. It also helps them
to elaborate on their existing understanding. Feedback is also important for motivation
because it provides pupils with information about their increasing competence. Effective
feedback has four essential characteristics:

it is immediate or given soon after a pupil response

it is specific
it provides corrective information for the learner
it has a positive emotional tone
The teacher needs to provide feedback throughout all learning experiences.
SAQ
Look at the following teacher pupil dialogue. Which of the
characteristics of feedback listed above is not illustrated by this
dialogue:
Mr. B: What kind of an animal is shown in the picture, Jill?
Jill:
A panther.
Mr. B: Not quite. Help her out, Betty?

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Lesson structuring. Lessons are more coherent when review and closure are
used to summarise and pull ideas together. Review is a summary that helps pupils link
what they have already learned to what will follow in the next activity. It emphasizes
important points and encourages elaboration. It can occur at any point in a lesson,
although it is common at the beginning and end. Closure is a form of review that occurs
at the end of a lesson. It pulls content together and signals the end of the lesson.
Begin and end each class with a short review. Guide the review with questioning.
For instance, say We studied present perfect yesterday. Give me an example that
illustrates this, and explain why your example is correct.
These skills are interdependent as none is effective alone, but only in combination
with the others. Their interaction and integration are crucial.
Managing classroom time. You should know how to increase learning by using
time efficiently. Different types of classroom time influence learning in different ways:
Type of classroom
time
Description
Allocated time
The amount of time a teacher uses for a content area or topic
Instructional time
The amount of time left for teaching after routine management
and administrative tasks are completed
Engaged time
The amount of time pupils are actively involved in learning
activities
Academic
learning The amount of time pupils are actively involved in learning
time
activities during which they are successful.
As you move from allocated time to academic learning time, the correlation with
learning becomes stronger. Unfortunately, teachers do not always use time effectively.
Some teachers seem unaware of the importance of time, viewing it as something to be
filled or even killed. In order to increase learning, you should increase instructional,
engaged, and academic learning time to make as much use of the allocated time as
possible.
Organisation determines how efficiently time is used. It includes starting on time,
preparing materials in advance, establishing routines, etc. Routines reduce the load of
your working effort and memory, save your energy, and create a sense of order and
equilibrium in your classroom.
To check on your organisation and communication skills, you can ask another
teacher to visit your class and observe your language and nonverbal communication or to
see how many minutes you spend before actually beginning instruction. You can also ask
your colleague to see whether you clearly emphasise the important points in the lesson,
sequence the presentation logically, communicate changes in topics or the way you give
feedback.
Besides knowledge, attitudes and essential teaching skills that are common to
teachers of all subjects, the teachers of English can use successfully a variety of other
abilities, skills and talents. Moreover, as a teacher you should be aware of the factors
affecting learning. This awareness will help you to enhance your pupils learning. Also,
you should be aware of what makes a good learner in order to try to make your pupils
good learners. Moreover, you should be aware of what motivates your pupils to learn
English and try to bring about factors which increase your pupils motivation.
However, some of the factors that affect your pupils leaning either cannot be
changed or are difficult to change.

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11

SAQ
What factors cannot be changed and what factors can you
influence or change in making your pupils good learners of
English?

Practical Skills and Talents

A clear voice, good presentation skills, self-confidence are all big advantages. Or,
perhaps, you are good at singing or playing an instrument. If you cannot play or sing well,
you can still have a song in your class by playing a tape or a record and singing along
with the recording. If you cannot lead the singing yourself, just join in and encourage the
pupils to sing.
Drawings are often used as a way of presenting new language and explaining new
vocabulary. You do not have to be an artist: just make sure that you keep the drawing
simple and you draw it big enough to be seen by every pupil in the classroom. Always try
it out or prepare it in advance.
Use your acting skills if you decide to read out a dialogue or organise a role play
activity. You will sound more convincing if you use different voices to indicate changes of
speaker. Even if you only change the loudness or speed or pitch of your voice, you will
still make the contrast between speakers clear. This will show your pupils what you
expect of them and will encourage them to take part in the activity. Otherwise, it is
unreasonable to expect your pupils to do things that you are not willing to do yourself. It is
always acceptable to say Im not very good at this, but Ill try.
Practical Classroom Skills. Your good performance in the classroom will have a
significant effect on the way in which the pupils see you and, consequently, on their
behaviour.
Think First!
Before reading the next section, think of the practical skills that
a good teacher needs.

Here are some necessary practical skills:

In the classroom, you should read clearly and loudly, without stumbling over
difficult words, with a good intonation and sounding as if you care about what you are
reading. Always practise any piece you want to use in the next lesson.
Organise your board work well, write legibly and quickly on the board. Write your
lines right, and your letters clear and big, so that they can be read easily from the sides
and back of the class). Clean the board before you start writing on it.
It is important for you to master the equipment. You need to know how to use an
overhead projector or a video player. The best way to learn is by hands on experience:
have someone explain it and demonstrate it, and then go through the various steps a
number of times yourself. Read carefully the instruction manual, if it is available. If you
cannot handle the equipment, you will get angry and frustrated, and you may lose the
respect of your pupils.
As a teacher you should be aware of the factors affecting learning. This awareness
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will help you to enhance your pupils learning. Also, you should be aware of what makes
a good learner in order to try to make your pupils good learners. Moreover, you should be
aware of what motivates your pupils to learn English and try to bring about factors which
increase your pupils motivation.
However, some of the factors that affect your pupils leaning either cannot be
changed or are difficult to change.
SAQ
What factors cannot be changed and what factors can you
influence or change in making your pupils good learners of
English?

The Effective Teacher

Think First!
Before reading the next section, think of the kind of teaching
you have mostly experienced in your life. This may also help you to
clarify what kind of teacher you see yourself as being in the future

Jim Scrivener considers that there are three categories of teachers: the
explainer, the involver and the enabler.
The explainer has limited knowledge of teaching methodology and relies mainly
on explaining or lecturing as a way of conveying information to the students. Done with
style and enthusiasm, with wit and imagination the lessons can be entertaining,
interesting and informative. The pupils are listening, occasionally answering questions
and perhaps making notes, but are mostly not being personally involved or challenged.
The pupils often receive practice by doing individual exercises after one phase of the
presentation has finished.
The involver knows well the subject matter (the English language and how it
works). However, she is also familiar with teaching methodology; she is able to use
appropriate teaching and organizational procedures and techniques to help her students
learn about the subject matter. Teacher explanations may be one of these techniques,
one option among many that she has at her disposal. She tries to involve the pupils
actively and puts effort into finding appropriate and interesting activities that will do this,
while still retaining clear control over the classroom and what happens in it.
The enabler knows about the subject matter and about methodology, but also has
an awareness of how pupils and groups are thinking and feeling within her class. She
actively responds to this in her planning and working methods and in building effective
working relationships and a good classroom atmosphere. Her own personality and
attitude are an active encouragement to learning.
This kind of teacher is confident enough to share control with the learners, or to
hand it over entirely to them. Decisions in her classroom are often shared or negotiated.
She sees herself as someone whose job is to create the conditions that enable the pupils
to learn for themselves. Sometimes this will involve her in less traditional teaching; she
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may become a guide or a counselor or a resource of information when needed. When

autonomous learning is going on, such a teacher may be hardly visible.
The three descriptions are very broadly painted. However, this simple
categorisation may help you reflect on what kind of teaching you have mostly
experienced in your life and may also help you to clarify what kind of teacher you see
yourself as being in the future.
Here are a number of factors in a teacher that might positively affect the learning
atmosphere in the classroom. The effective teacher:

really listens to her pupils

shows respect
gives clear, positive feedback
has a good sense of humour
is patient
knows her subject
inspires confidence
trusts pupils
empathises with pupils problems
is well-organised
paces lessons well
does not complicate things unnecessarily
is enthusiastic and inspires enthusiasm
can be authoritative without being distant
is honest
is approachable.

Carl Rogers, an American psychologist, suggested that there are three core
teacher characteristics that help create an effective learning environment: respect (a
positive and non-judgemental regards for another person), empathy (being able to see
things from another persons perspective, as if looking through their eyes) and
authenticity (being oneself without hiding behind job titles, roles or masks).
When a teacher has these three qualities, the relationship within the classroom are
likely to be stronger and deeper and communication between people much more open
and honest. The climate becomes positive, forward-looking and supportive. The pupils
are able to learn with less fear of taking risks or facing challenges. In doing these they
increase their own self-esteem and self-understanding, gradually taking more and more
of the responsibility for their own learning themselves rather than assuming that it is
someone elses job.
In order to improve the quality of the relationship teacher pupils, one does not
need to learn new techniques but to look closely at what they really want for their pupils,
how they really feel about themselves.
Here are some conclusions for English teachers:

The jug and mug approach may be inappropriate if it dominates classroom time.
Giving your pupils time to do things themselves may be much more important.
You may be a better teacher if you tried to make the enabling of learning your main
concern.
You need to ensure your pupils practical experience in doing things using language
rather than simply listening to explanations about language)
Being an over-helpful teacher could get in the way of your pupils learning. The more
you do things in the classroom, the less space there will be for the learners to do
things.
It may be useful to help pupils become more aware of how they are learning. To
reflect on this and to explore what procedures, materials, techniques or approaches

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would help them learn more effectively.

It is OK for pupils to make mistakes, to try things out and get things wrong and learn
form that.

2 The Classroom: a Complex Environment

In most cases, you have to accept the room(s) you are allocated for your work. In
the schools where there are fixed rooms for English or language labs, you will have the
opportunity to create an appropriate environment (with wall-charts, posters photos, pupils
work, and the like) so that everyone coming in knows immediately that English is the
focus of attention there. But if you must move from class to class, you can still do quite a
lot to ensure that the environment in which your classes are held is as encouraging as
possible.
SAQ
How would you describe the ideal room in which you would
love to teach?

Few classrooms are ideal. They may be too small or too large, too dim or too
bright, storage space may be limited, maps may cover the board, etc. Rearranging desks
is sometimes impossible, but if it is possible, try to experiment with different arrangements
to see what works best for you. Do not forget to consider the room arrangement in your
planning.
Before planning rules and procedures, you must consider both the characteristics
of your pupils and the physical environment of your classrooms. The relationship among
these factors is illustrated below.
Planning for
effective
management

Pupil
characteristics

The physical
environment

Procedures
and rules
(after Paul Eggen and Don Kauchak. 2004. Educational Psychology, Pearson)

Class Atmosphere. The general atmosphere in the class can assist learning. Both
your behaviour and language and those of the pupils can contribute to this atmosphere.

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Think First!
What factors are the most important, in your opinion, for building a
good atmosphere in your classes? Put in order the following
suggestions according to how important they are for you and the
pupils you are teaching.

addressing pupils by name

encouraging the whole class to use first names
always being polite to your pupils
expecting your pupils to be polite to each other as well as to you
always being punctual to classes
encouraging your pupils to arrive to classes on time
encouraging pupils to apologise for late coming
making sure you do not show favouritism towards any particular
pupil
planning clearly what you are going to do in each lesson
allowing valid questions and interruptions
telling your pupils from the beginning what you want to achieve in
the lesson
saying, at the end of the lesson, how successful you think it has
been
including, if possible, every pupil in some way during each lesson
not letting one or two pupils monopolise the class
providing opportunities for the pupils to talk and listen to each other
reducing communication between you and your pupils to an
optimum amount
saying what you mean and meaning what you say: being firm in
approving or disapproving
doing the things which you have told your pupils you will do
treating all your pupils alike.

Classroom rights and responsibilities. Another important area for which you are
responsible is establishing and managing the rigths and responsibilities of the classroom,
including your own. It is important that these are clear to everyone and that rights are
counterbalanced by responsibility in terms of behaviour and participation. In order for the
classroom to run the way you wish to, it is important that you establish clearly the
framework according to which everyone must operate. There must also be clear and
appropriate sanctions for those who do not comply. Here are few areas to consider in
relation to the rights and responsibilities of your classroom:
Respect. Every pupil has the right to personal respect; everyone should use
respectful language; it is important to respect the views and beliefs of others.
Attention. Every pupil has the right to receive a fair share of the teachers
attention; when addressing the class at the teachers invitation each pupil has the right to
be heard; everyone must pay full attention to the requirements of the lesson; when the
teacher speaks all must pay attention.
Learning and teaching. All pupils have the right to learn; the teacher has the
right to teach; everyone has the responsibility of cooperating so that effective teaching
and learning can take place.
Safety. Everyone should expect to be safe; everyone must take all reasonable
steps to ensure that safety is not compromised.
There may be other rights and responsibilities that you wish to establish for your
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classroom.
Think First!
Think now what these other rights and responsibilities may be.

You will find some more ideas in the following section dedicated to
routines.
Classroom Routines. The first few days of the school year are crucial to
classroom management, because they create lasting impressions and patterns of
behaviour for the year are established in these first days. Spend a little time at the
beginning of the year explaining how you intend the class to operate, and making it clear
what you consider to be acceptable behaviour. This should be done in a friendly but firm
manner, without sounding threatening.
Your life will be made easier and your class more successful if you establish rules
for your lessons which everybody understands and accepts. Here are a few examples of
teachers rules:
Primary school
Lower secondary
Upper secondary
We raise our hands Be in your seat and quiet Be in your seat before
before speaking
when the bell rings
the bell rings
We leave our seats only Raise your hand for Give your full attention to
when given permission by permission to speak or to others in discussion, and
the teacher
leave your seat
wait your turn to speak
SAQ
What rules that you have already used when you were pupils
would you like to add to the lists in the table above?

Such rules can be worked out together with the pupils. Although involving pupils in
rule making does not solve all management problems, it is an important step in gaining
their cooperation. Once established, rules create a sense of ownership, and contribute to
the development of responsibility and self-regulation in your pupils.
Try to find out what the norms there are in your school, and comply with them. For
instance, the pupils may be expected to stand (or not) when you come into the room.
Homework may be collected by a pupil rather than by you. The board may be always
cleaned by the pupil sitting nearest to it or by a pupil on duty. If there are no norms, it is
wise for you to establish some of your own.
Asking your pupils to put up hands is not always appropriate in a class where
everybody must speak. Sometimes you need responses from pupils who do not know
them, or who do, but do not put up their hands. Make sure you first ask the question and
then name a pupil to answer. Ask a second or a third pupil if the first pupil is unable to
answer.
Get your pupils to put up their hands before they want to ask a question. This helps
to prevent noisy interruptions. However, do not insist on your pupils always raising their
hand before asking, as one of the skills they must acquire is that of being able to interrupt
and seek clarification.
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SAQ
When would you insist on your pupils raising their hands?

Your pupils need to know in advance of the lesson what will need to bring to class.
You have to plan this and ask them to bring only what they will use. Then you should be
firm in reprimanding those who fail to bring what is needed to the first few lessons, so that
it becomes second nature for your pupils to bring the right things. On the other hand, if
you ask them to bring something and never ask them to use it, do not be cross if
someone fails to bring that thing to the lesson when you finally decide to refer to it.
With younger pupils, insist that they do not keep on the desk things which are not
to be used during the lesson.
Help your pupils establish an organised way of keeping their notes by using the
lesson/unit titles of the coursebook and perhaps the exercise/section/activity number as
headings. The pupils can then write under these headings and the notebook can be
referred to alongside the coursebook. If your pupils buy their own coursebooks, do not
forbid them to write in them or mark things they want to remember, or even colour the
pictures. If, however, books belong to the school, the notebook must become an essential
tool for the pupil.
There is almost always an established way in which young pupils will address you
and you them. With older pupils you may establish the form of address together.
However, this will depend largely on school custom and pupils expectations. Make it
clear from the outset what your name is and how you like to be addressed.
To plan a learning activity or a sequence for a certain class means to be able to
predict as much of the unpredictable as possible: you need to know your pupils and to
build up a wide repertoire of skills and techniques. All these will enable you to develop
useful structures and a personal style of teaching. You will then maximize both your
pupils potential and your own in the limited time and with the limited resources of the
school.
In an ideal classroom, class management is invisible. The atmosphere is calm,
movement and interaction are comfortable, and pupils work quietly. The teacher gives
few directions and reprimands pupils infrequently. However, in the real world, some
classes are tough to manage. And yet, in most instances, a teacher can create an orderly
classroom. Doing so requires good knowledge of the pupils and careful planning. It also
requires the existence of a clearly understood and consistently monitored set of rules and
procedures that prevents management problems before they occur.
Classroom activities have characteristics that make them complex and demanding:
o Several activities and tasks occur at the same time. When you teach a classroom, you
need to maintain order, attract and keep your pupils attention, and keep them
involved in a learning activity (individual, whole class, small groups, pairs). You may
also have to deal with discipline problems.
o The events occur rapidly. Things happen quickly and you need to make many of the
decisions right now. This need to make quick decisions can be almost overwhelming,
particularly for beginning teachers.
o Events often take unexpected turns. You must always plan your classroom activity,
and try to anticipate as much as you can of what will happen. And yet it is impossible
to plan for all of your pupils responses. Pupils and classroom activity are often
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unpredictable, but experienced teachers get used to expecting the unexpected. The
unpredictable nature of classrooms increases their complexity and challenge.
o You teach in front of people. In a sense, you are on a stage and your successes and
mistakes occur in the public space. The pupils (and possibly other observers)
perceptions of your actions can have unintended consequences.
The complexity of a teachers activity is especially apparent in the large classes of
the primary and secondary schools, where the number of pupils and their immaturity
combine to put to constant test the teachers classroom managerial skills. In such a
context, knowing your pupils and knowing how to approach them is crucial.
SAQ
You know that pupils think, act and feel differently at different
stages of development. What are the general characteristics of the
behaviour of the primary school pupils (grades 2 to 4) compared to
that of the lower secondary school pupils (grades 5 to 8)?

Whether you teach younger or older children, your way of approaching them,
especially in the early stages of the classroom activity, will be a major factor that affects
your pupils confidence. Learners of all ages should be treated with care and respect.
Knowing your pupils by name, knowing their backgrounds and interests, knowing about
their previous language-learning experiences and their attitudes to English will enable
you to help them learn more happily and effectively.
Being able to address your pupils by name has considerable advantages both for
you and for them. It avoids confusion which might arise in identifying which pupil should
be responding. Also, it is the natural way to attract somebodys attention; it speeds up the
organising of pair and group work; it generates a friendly relationship with the pupils and
among them, and it produces a secure atmosphere.
SAQ
What can you do if you have large classes and you are not
good at remembering pupils names?

A language class gives you more opportunities to discover details about your
pupils lives than most other classes. Very often you may find yourself wondering what
you can ask and what is better to be left unasked. A good principle is never to ask your
pupils anything that you yourself would not wish to be asked.
Your pupils will find their English lessons more stimulating if some of their work is
concerned with things that interest them. You will want to find out what these things are
as almost any pupils hobby can be incorporated into an English lesson.

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Think First!
Before continuing to read this text, think where you can find
information about your pupils previous experience of learning
English.

There is always an official syllabus (programa) of what needs to be taught at

each level, which you can consult. You can also ask your pupils to bring you the
coursebook(s) and notebook(s) they used. Sometimes, you can talk to the previous
teacher(s). This kind of discussion is very important as you may be able to find out what
your pupils strengths and weaknesses are. Both the pupils and the previous teacher may
also tell you what kinds of learning experience they had.
Sometimes, however, you will find that the class is different from what you would
have expected. This may simply mean that the class, or individual pupils within it, have
changed.
Think First!
Before continuing to read this lecture, think of what you can
do to find out what your pupils really know.

The best way to establish what your pupils already know is to start with a
diagnostic test to discover what they can and cannot do. However, when you give them
such a test, you must make sure that your pupils understand that the test is given only to
help you decide what gaps they have in their knowledge, so that you can help them to fill
these gaps.
In most cases, the young pupils attitude to English is more influenced by you than
by their wants or needs. Your enthusiasm and skills have an enormous effect on the
attitude of your pupils. However, positive attitudes to learning English need to be fostered
constantly, as pupils almost always reach a stage when they feel that they are not making
any progress. At this point you need to find new ways of motivating them and making
their study seem worthwhile by seizing every opportunity to make their learning
meaningful.
Remember that no matter what facilities the school offers, it is the lively, purposeful
class atmosphere with plenty to do, which you create, which will maintain your pupils
positive attitudes. The most important factor in keeping your pupils motivated is your own
skill and enthusiasm.

The Good Learners of English

Recent approaches is EFL have acknowledged the importance of the whole
person in the learner (as opposed to only their mental processes such as thinking,
remembering, analysing, etc.) The pupils bring to the classroom a range of less visible
things such as their needs, their wishes, their life experience, their home background,
their memories, their worries, their dreams, their anger, their toothache, their fears, their
moods, etc. Given the opportunities, they will make decisions for themselves and their
learning and they will move forward.
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New learning is constructed over the foundations of earlier learning. The pupils
will make use of whatever knowledge and experience they already have in order to help
them learn and understand new things. Thus the message taken away from one lesson is
quite different for different pupils.
Drawing on your experience as learners of English, you could draw the profile of
the good learners of English. Consider these features:

Perceptual skills: they can perceive new sounds.

Analytical skills: they can formulate hypotheses, memorise language items, monitor
their own speech and that of others.
Motivation: they have a high motivation.
Strategy: they concentrate on meaning rather than on form when practising; they
look for cues in the context.
Study: they can organise their studies and study independently (e.g. they make
vocabulary lists and use them).
Experiment: they try out their language knowledge and are uninhibited about making
mistakes.
Sociability: they mix well and work well in groups. They can transfer from Romanian
to English communication strategies such as paraphrasing, circumlocution, checking
that listeners have understood, etc.
Exposure: they seek out every opportunity to come into contact with English,
(watching films and TV programmes, reading books and newspapers, etc.)
Cultural openess: they are open-minded and open hearted with regard to foreign
cultures and individuals.
Age: young children do not make good learners of grammar.
Adaptability: they learn well despite the method, the teacher, and the school.
Think First!
What fundamental skill is hidden behind most of the features
listed above?

It would be difficult to imagine that all your pupils show all the above mentioned
features and are all good learners of English. However, you should be able to show your
pupils how to be good, which clearly involves helping them to become independent.
Independence is a quality which seems to cut across most of the features listed above.

Motivating Students
Language classrooms depend more than other classes on the climate; in its turn
this is influenced by the national and cultural influences on the language being learned,
the education system and the immediate classroom environment (M. Lewis in Richards,
J. C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002: 40). If the education system or the national
curriculum, and the status of the foreign language being learned cannot be influenced by
the teacher, the latter can influence the students feel about learning English. Teachers
can influence the classroom environment where learning takes place by motivating
unmotivated pupils.
Unmotivated pupils can be recognised when they fail to take part by sitting in
silence, they distract other pupils by talking off the topic, or they provide nonlanguage
entertainment. All of these call for teachers management skills.
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A future English teacher needs to know that teaching a foreign language involves
more than her pupils interest, for language is a skill that needs to be applied/used, not
just stored in the head.
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Teachers encourage language use through
both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Some students have strong intrinsic motivation as
they are already aware of the benefits of learning English. Others need to be reminded of
the benefits: standing better chances of getting a good job, making travelling more
rewarding and enjoyable, access to literature of all kinds in the original, etc. Extrinsic
motivation can come through rewards. Some of the activities done in class can be
presented as rewards to the pupils: supplying additional reading materials, showing a
video, inviting guest speakers, organising games, etc.
An ongoing aspect of motivation is dealing with the behaviour of particular
students. Teachers build a scale of responses to off-task behaviour, which helps them
decide whether to ignore or attend to the problem. Here are a few typical cases of off-task
behaviour and possible teacher responses (from M. Lewis, idem: 42 43)
1. The back-row distractor: the pupil who always sits at the back and distracts
others:
Use eye contact while continuing to speak.
Stop mid-sentence and stare until the pupil stops.
Talk with the pupil after class to investigate the cause.
2. The nonparticipants: several pupils are not taking part in the assigned activity.
3. Ignore them if they are not distracting others.
Walk past their desks and ask if there is a problem.
Ask other teachers how the same pupils participate in other classes.
4. The overexuberant pupil: one outgoing student dominates answering most
questions, making most comments and filling most of the student talking time. This calls
for tact, because such a pupil is often a good language model for the rest of the class.
Interrupt with Thanks for that and call on someone else to continue.
Remind the student that there will be more talking time soon in groups.
Talk to the student individually later.
In brief, making quick decisions on what to do about a problem depends on
answers to questions like:

Does the behaviour hinder other students learning?

Is this just a single occurrence not worth wasting time on?
Is it a whole-class problem or specific to one or two people?

Remember that if large numbers of pupils are failing to attend to the lesson, there
could be a problem with the lesson itself. The task may be too difficult, or an activity may
have continued for too long, or the content may be boring. On the other hand, the
problem may not be within the class: a forthcoming event such as a match or even
unusual weather can change the mood of the class and signal to the teacher the need for
a change of activity.

Discipline
Discipline is an important matter. As a teacher, you should be able to solve a
number of questions, referring to maintaining order, the amount of noise you can tolerate,
what you consider unacceptable behaviour and how you can punish misbehavers.

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SAQ
How much freedom do you think you have in dealing with
discipline problems?

It is important to try to be fair, and not to punish misbehaviour severely on one

occasion while ignoring it on another. It is always better to avoid situations that may lead
to misbehaviour. If you keep your pupils busy and if they believe that what they are doing
is worthwhile, they will be less likely to become disruptive. Also, if you are well organized,
you are less likely to have problems with discipline.

Involving All the Pupils

You should seize every opportunity to give encouragement to those pupils who are
making a real effort and not just to those who are being successful. This can be done
briefly and frequently, without interrupting the flow of the lesson, by the use of Yes,
Good, Thats right and even by a simple nod of the head.
Avoid comparing one pupils performance with that of other pupils. It is always
more constructive to compare a pupils work with his/her own previous performance as
this gives the pupil a sense of ones own progress.
Ensure that all the pupils are included in the class activity. In large classes in
particular, it is very easy to miss some pupils out. Often teachers tend to focus on one
particular section of the class the area where the very good pupils sit, the front of the
class, or the area by the window , without realising it.
Think First!
Before you read the rest of this section, write down the means
you can think of used for including all the pupils in the class activity.

Here are some ways of making sure that you involve all the pupils.
Use the class register list. Your pupils will know if you are calling on them in
the order of the class register list. To avoid this, use every second or third name, or some
other pattern, so that they may not realise what order you are using. Avoid looking down
at the list (by putting it where you can see it easily). Also, to prevent the switching off of
pupils who have just responded, ask one or two for a second response.
Think of your class as a set of lines or rows of pupils and address a
question to a pupil from each line or row in turn.
Set rules. If your pupils tend to shout out the answers before the others have
time to try, make a rule that the pupil who has responded once must miss the next three
questions before s/he can answer again. This keeps the pupils busy counting, while
waiting to join in again.
Invite the pupil who answers to name the one who will answer next. If the
pupils get used to this system, it can move quite briskly and be successful. However, it
can become unpleasant if the pupils see it as a way of victimising their slower classmates
Repeat the question and/or prompt. If the pupil you nominated is unable to
respond, help him/her by repeating or prompting, while insisting that the rest of the class
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remains quiet. Sometimes, however, you may wish to pass a factual question to another
pupil, or the class in general.
Extra-Curricular Activities. Activities conducted outside lesson times can make
an important contribution to maintaining a good atmosphere in the classroom. If their
knowledge of English opens the way to other interesting activities, the pupils will take a
more positive attitude to their studies.
By organising a class library or an English club you can provide your pupils with
the possibility of extending their knowledge and interests outside the classroom as well
as giving them an opportunity for genuine communication. Try to help your pupils set
these up and then give them assistance in running them.
SAQ
What advantages or disadvantages can you see in your
pupils attending the activity of an English club?

3. School. Getting a New Job

No two schools are alike. Schools may range from very formal, with strict discipline
to very casual, where discipline is not considered important. School principals also range
from authoritarian to permissive. It is important for you to realise what type of school you
are in and to adjust your own behaviour accordingly. While you are new, keep your
teaching style rather formal until you learn more about how the other teachers work. It is
always easier to become more relaxed with your pupils as time goes on rather than to
become more formal with them.
It is important to respect the norms of the school in which you are working and not
to impose your own system from the beginning. Once you have become accepted by the
other members of the staff, you may perhaps suggest ideas which they can consider and
possibly adopt.
In the beginning, you need to be careful about how much noise your classes make.
You may need to try to convince the other teachers and the school principal that in order
to learn to speak English and understand the spoken language, your pupils will need to
make some noise, that group and pair work cause some noise.
School responsibilities are relevant for teachers of all subjects. They are important
aspects of school life and affect the status of English in the school. This in turn affects
what you can achieve. Understanding the system can save you a lot of time and trouble
and leave you to devote more energy to the actual teaching - learning process.
Here are a few guidelines for beginning the school year:
Explain requirements and grading systems
(particularly with older pupils)
Emphasize that learning and classroom order are
interdependent
Plan with great care during this period
Conduct eye-catching and motivating activities
Plan structured instruction Assess pupils skills and background knowledge
Use large- rather than small-group instruction
Minimize transitions from one activity to another
Begin teaching rules and procedures the first day
Teach rules and procedures Discuss and practise rules and procedures during
the first few days
Establish expectations

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 Intervene and discuss every infraction of rules

Begin communication with Meet the parents or send them a letter, and state
parents
your positive statements for the year
Call or visit parents after the first or second week to
nip potential problems in the bud
As a teacher you have responsibilities to your pupils, their parents, your head of
department, your school, youe headteacher and others. Being an effective teacher does
not mean simply knowing English. It also means delivering lessons that are intellectually
robust, challenging and stimulating; managing the classroom effectively and faily,
assessing pupils progress promptly and accurately; modelling in your own behaviour and
practices what you expect pupils to do; planning for the inclusion and the needs of the
individual learners; managing the rights and the responsibilities of the classroom;
upholdong school policies and procedures; responding to the pastoral needs of your
pupils; completing administrative duties; contibuting to the wider life of the school;
knowing your legal responsibilities; and so on.

Summary
This unit presents the complexity of the job of being an English teacher and the
many requirements that you need to comply with: you must have a deep understanding of
the process of learning and of the characteristics of your pupils, a good understanding of
the topics you teach; you should be able to represent the topics in ways that are
understandable to pupils, to organize and maintain productive learning environments.
As a teacher, you are responsible for classroom learning and should be able to
increase it. You should be caring and enthusiastic, a good role model, and have high
expectations for your pupils. You should be well organized, know what is going on in your
classrooms, use your class time well, and communicate clearly. You should present
content in attractive ways, provide clear and informative feedback, and review important
ideas. You should use effective questioning strategies, prompt pupils who do not answer
successfully, and give pupils time to think about their answers. You should be able to
draw, write legibly and speak convincingly, and maybe have other talents, too.
You should be able to create a classroom atmosphere conducive to learning and
establish rules and routines which enhance the use of classroom learning time.

Further Reading
Capel, Susan, Leask, Marilyn and Turner, Tony, 2009, Learning to Teach in the
Secondary School: A Companion to School Experience, Routledge
Harmer, Jeremy. 2001. The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman
Richards Jack C. and Renandya, Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: CUP.
Scrivener Jim, 2008, Learning teaching: A guidebook for English language teachers,
Heinemann
Underwood, Mary. 1987. Effective Class management. A Practical Approach, Longman
Ur, Penny. 1996. A Course in Language Teaching. Practice and Theory, Cambridge
University Press
Ur, Penny. The English Teaching as Professional in Richards Jack C. and Renandya,
Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

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25

Catedra de Limba i Literatura englez

EFL Methodology

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
Any average person in this country can tell you what teaching is about: a teacher
speaking in front of a large number of pupils who sit in rows at their desks; the pupils listen
or not. If the teacher knew how to make her pupils listen to her, education would be better.
In reality, what happens in the classroom is complex. Managing the learning
environment is a key part of the teachers pedagogic knowledge and it resembles driving,
as the teacher is trying to achieve several objectives at the same time. However, like in
driving, after some time class management skills become part of the subconscious,
internalised patterns of behaviour. The organisation of the lesson becomes implicit in what
the teacher does rather than explicit. There are common skills and techniques that
combined with an awareness of and sensitivity to the teaching and learning contexts,
enable you to manage the class effectively. Your first task is to provide a range of learning
experiences to the pupils. Then, you need to cater for individual differences by organizing
activities that make use of various learning resources and different tasks. You need to
provide opportunities for the pupils to take responsibility of their own learning, while still
managing the classroom activities. In one word, you need to manage classroom learning.
The skills of creating and managing a successful class may be the key to success.
An important part of this is to do with your role, attitude, intentions and personality, and with
your relationships with the learners, but also with their motivation and classroom
constraints. Another important part is the organizational skills and techniques that you use.
All these are often grouped under the heading of classroom management.
Classroom management emphasizes the complexity of classroom life and focuses on
the managerial skills that you need to have and on the systematic way in which you
coordinate classroom variety and complexity. The teacher is the coordinator of a varied and
complex environment: setting objectives, planning activities, attending to communication
and motivation and evaluating performance. As a teacher you have to develop a set of
effective strategies for encouraging behaviour for learning amongst your pupils: trying to
prevent poor behaviour through establishing positive expectations rather than managing it
after inappropriate behaviour has begun, but first and foremost you are there to manage
their learning, and that should be your primary emphasis. This is not always easy, as a
whole range of circumstances come into play. As Rogers (2002:5) identifies:
Day-to-day teaching normally takes place in a rather unusual setting: a small room
(for what is asked of it), often inadequate furniture and space to move, a 50-minute time slot
(or less) to cover set curriculum objectives, and 25 to 30 distinct and unique personalities,
some of whom may not even want to be there. Why should there not be some natural
stresses and strains associated with a teachers day-to-day role?

Teaching is a continuously creative and problem-solving activity. Each learner and

each group of learners has their own characteristics and group dynamics which the teacher
needs to take into account in planning a suitable learning programme. Although lessons
with different groups may have similar content, a lesson is rarely delivered in the same way
twice. Variations in interactions between pupils and the teacher affect the teaching strategy
chosen.
One of the most important roles you will have as a teacher is to bring together the
various personalities of your classroom (including your own) and to create from these the
best possible context for learning. This means you need to do some careful thinking,
planning and preparation. Minimising surprise is essential. Of course, issues always arise
within the classroom to which you have to react. The majority of events and issues that
arise in the classroom are, however, foreseeable and can be planned for. It is always better
to be proactive than reactive.
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Classroom management involves both decisions and actions. The actions are what is
done in the classroom. The decisions are about whether to do these actions, when to do
them, how to do them, who to do them, etc. The essential basic skill for classroom
management is therefore to be able to recognize what options are available, to make
appropriate decisions between these options and to turn them into effective and efficient
actions. As you grow in experience, your awareness of possible options will also grow.
The aim of this lecture is to help you become aware of the lesson management skills
that you need to develop. After you have completed the study of this lecture on classroom
management, you should be able to:

explain what makes a lesson effective

appreciate the importance of effective verbal and non-verbal communication
appraise the use of language
use questioning more effectively as a teaching and learning tool
be aware of and have control over you own self-presentation
classify patterns of interaction
explain the advantages and disadvantages of various patterns of classroom interaction
use various patterns of classroom interaction to involve all the pupils in your lessons

Key Concepts: lesson management, cooperative learning, patterns of

interaction, whole class teacher-led activities, pupils independent activities, class dialogue,
questioning, teacher feedback, supervised learning, supported independent learning, pair
work, group work

1 Classroom Management: Strategies and Tactics

Effective classroom management is essential to effective learning. Classroom
management refers to arrangements made by the teacher to establish and maintain an
environment in which learning can occur, e.g. effective organisation and presentation of
lessons so that pupils are actively engaged in learning. Interacting with pupils,
communicating effectively with them to enhance their knowledge, skills and understanding,
developing relations between teachers and pupils, adapting appropriately to the demands
of the situation, creating a motivational climate, managing behaviour and misbehaviour,
reacting and responding adequately in any situation on any given day are all aspects of
classroom management.
What is it that makes a teacher successful and respected? Why do such a teachers
pupils work with positive and constructive attitudes?
Both teachers and pupils have their own characteristics and habits. These influence
the effectiveness of the lesson. Like a taxi driver who knows every city street, you need to
develop a good understanding of your pupils and of yourself.
Your physical presence, the way you move, sit or stand, the way you are dressed, all
have an effect on your pupils perception. To some extent, these may also affect the
effectiveness of your lesson. You need to be aware of all these details, adapt your
language and your voice, your gestures, your expressions, your mime, your movements,
the frequency of eye contact with individual pupils, for all these carry a message for your
pupils.
Your lessons should be prepared thoroughly: materials, activities, and assessments.
When the pupils feel that you are filling time, or when you have to change activities because
you cannot find the materials, or if you are unprepared for the problems that may emerge,
you may lose your pupils respect and confidence. A good idea is to prepare for each lesson
more than you need. It is always good to have a reserve activity ready in case of extra time.
As you are planning a lesson, note in advance which component(s) of the lesson you will
sacrifice if you find yourself with too little time for everything.
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During the lesson, keep a watch or clock easily visible, and make sure you are aware
throughout how time is going relative to your plan. It is difficult to judge intuitively how time
is going when you are busy, and the smooth running of the lesson depends to some extent
on proper timing.
Try to create a serious impression of purpose by your contributions and by the
demands made on your pupils. This means attention to detail, and an assumption that your
pupils will take their work seriously and with a sense of responsibility. At every point in the
lesson a teacher has options. To say one thing or to say something different; to stop an
activity or to let it continue, to take some time to deal with difficult questions or to move on
with what you had previously planned. There is no single correct answer, no single route
through a lesson though some routes may in the end prove to be much more effective
than others. Different people and different situations will create different solutions. The
lesson is created by these choices.
Long-term strategies can help you build up good standards of personal relationships
that result in good classroom atmosphere. Nevertheless, pupils are not always capable of
coping with all the stresses of their lives and they may react by laziness, insubordination,
defiance, aggression, or destructiveness. Such pupil behaviour will undermine the building
up of good classroom practice, and the effectiveness of your classes. What can you do?
Unfortunately, advice about classroom tactics is less reliable than advice about
general strategies.
The complexity of classroom life is responsible for many difficult situations.
Classroom life is multidimensional, with many different kinds of activities, many different
objectives, and many people having different needs and different styles. At any one time
you need to consider what to do next, thinking ahead of the development of the lesson,
watching the pupils progress, looking out for what might disrupt the flow of the lesson.
There may be numberless unpredictables, interruptions, unforeseen difficulties, or minor
incidents. In such a context your action and reaction are driven by intuition more than by
deliberate thinking about alternative courses of action. Moreover, advice from other
teachers may not be reliable, as different teachers use different tactics with equal
(in)success.
Becoming an effective teacher is partly a matter of increasing your awareness of
what options are available. It is also about the skilful selection of the most appropriate
option at each point and efficiently, effectively turning these into actions.
What informs and influences a teachers decisions between different options? Here
are some factors to bear in mind: (Scrivener, 1994: 11)

What is the aim of the activity?

What is the objective of the whole lesson?
Is what we are doing useful?
What is hindering the effectiveness of what we are doing?
What have I planned to do?
What would be the best thing to do now?
Is it time for a change of mood or pace?
Are we using time efficiently?
How do the students feel?
How do I (the teacher) feel?
What are the possible outcomes of my actions?

Classroom decisions and actions are influenced by the teachers own attitudes,
intentions, beliefs and values: what you think about learning, what is important for you in
learning, what you genuinely feel towards the pupils.

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Teachers decisions and actions

Teachers attitudes and intentions

Teachers beliefs and values

2 Communicating with Pupils

The quality of classroom communication is critical to effective learning. Teachers
may have different personalities and teaching styles, but they all need to communicate
effectively with pupils. Communication is a complex two-way process involving the mutual
exchange of information and ideas that can be written, verbal and non-verbal. Clear and
effective communication includes delivering and receiving information, involving listening,
observation and sensitivity. The quality of communication can enhance or hinder learning.
Pupils learn from communicating with each other, through discussion or by talking about a
task. However, irrelevant communication will interfere with the progress of the lesson and
detract from pupils learning.
Verbal communication
You need to establish procedures for gaining pupils attention at the beginning of a
lesson and also when you want the class to listen again after they have started an activity.
Before you start talking, make sure that all pupils can see and hear you, that you have
silence and that they are paying attention. Establish a means of getting silence, e.g. say
quiet please and/or clap your hands; use the same technique with the class each time to
ensure consistency of approach. Wait for quiet and do not speak until there is silence. Once
you are talking, do not move around, as this distracts pupils.
Using your voice
A teachers voice is a crucial element in classroom communication. Certain qualities
are fixed and give your voice a unique character. However, you can alter the volume,
projection, pitch, speed, tone, clarity and expressiveness of your voice to use it more
effectively and to lend impact to what you say.
Volume. The most obvious way you can vary your voice is by altering the volume.
However, it is rarely a good thing to be loud, as loud teachers will have loud classes. If you
shout too much you may get into the habit of shouting and, moreover, you may lose your
voice each September.
Projection. You project your voice by making sure it leaves your mouth confidently
and precisely. This needs careful enunciation and breath control. If your voice is projected
well, you are able to make a whisper audible at some distance. Equally, good projection
brings considerable volume to your ordinary voice without resort to shouting or roaring.
Pitch. Generally speaking, deep voices sound more serious and significant; high
voices sound more exciting and lively. To add weight to what is being said the pitch should
be dropped; to lighten the tone the pitch should be raised. A voice with a lower pitch can
create a sense of importance as it comes across as more authoritative and confident than a
high-pitched voice. It can also be raised more easily to command attention, whereas raising
a naturally high-pitched voice may result in something similar to a squeak.
Speed. Variations in speed give contrast to delivery. You can use pause to good
effect. It shows confidence if you can hold a silence before making a point or answering a
question. Having achieved silence, do not shout into it. Equally, have patience to wait for a
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pupil to respond. A reasonable time for any such pause is three seconds or slightly longer
although up to fifteen seconds may be required for open-ended, higher level questions.
To use your voice effectively these factors need to work together. For example, you
do not communicate effectively if the pitch of your voice is right, but you are not enunciating
clearly or the volume is wrong. It is also important to put feeling into what you say to engage
pupils so that your voice does not sound dull and monotonous. Often pupils respond to how
you say something rather than what you say. For instance, if you are praising a pupil sound
pleased and if you are disciplining a pupil sound firm.
Classroom language
In order to develop pupils language skills, a teachers language must be accessible.
There is no point in talking to pupils in language they do not understand. It is easier for
pupils to understand a new concept if you make comparisons or use examples, metaphors
or references to which they can relate. Where appropriate, use a variety of words or
explanations that ensures the meaning of what you intend to convey is understood by all
pupils. As a teacher your language must be concise. When you are speaking, you stress or
repeat important words or phrases. Pupils understand something and learn it better if they
hear it a number of times and if it is explained in different ways. Therefore:
tell them what you are going to tell them,
tell them,
tell them again what you have told them.
As well as conveying content, a teachers language is also used to create individual
relationships with pupils that make them more interested in learning. Using pupils names,
saying something positive to every pupil individually over a period of time and thanking
pupils at the end of a good lesson, showing interest in their lives outside the classroom,
valuing their experienced, are all important in building mutual respect and creating a
positive atmosphere for classroom learning.
Teachers also use language to impose discipline. Often, negative terms are used for
this. This is not inevitable and a positive approach may have more success. For examples,
try to suggest a constructive activity rather than condemning a destructive one.
Types of communication
There are many different ways in which verbal communication is used in teaching:
explaining, questioning, discussion, and listening.
Explaining
Teachers spend a lot of time explaining to pupils. In some teaching situations it can
be the main form of activity in the lesson. Consequently, being able to explain something
effectively is an important skill to acquire. Pupils learn better if they are actively engaged in
the learning process and a good explanation actively engages pupils and therefore is able
to gain and maintain their attention. You must plan to involve pupils, e.g. mix an explanation
with tasks, activities or questions, rather than relying on long lectures, dictating notes or
working out something on the board.
Explaining provides information about what, why and how. It describes new terms
and concepts or clarifies new meaning. Pupils expect teachers to explain things clearly and
become frustrated when they cannot understand an explanation. A good explanation is
clear and well structured. It takes account of pupils previous knowledge and understanding,
uses language that pupils can understand, related new work to concepts, interests and
work already familiar to the pupils. Use of analogy and metaphor can also help an
explanation. In the following table you will identify a range of features that characterise
effective explanations and a set of questions that you make ask yourself about your own
questions:
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Clear structure
Key features identified
Dynamic opening
Clarity using voice
and body
Signposts
Examples and nonexamples
Models and analogies

Props
Questions
Connections to pupils
experience
Repetition
Humour

Is the explanation structured in a logical way showing how each part links
together?
What are the key points or essential elements that pupils should
understand?
What is the tease or hook that is used at the start?
Can the voice or body be used in any way to emphasise or embellish
certain points?
Are there clear linguistic signposts to help pupils follow the sequence and
understand which the key points are?
Are there sufficient examples and non-examples to aid pupils
understanding of a concept?
What models might help pupils understand an abstract idea? Are there any
analogies you could use? Will pupils understand the analogy? How might
you help pupils identify the strengths and weaknesses of the analogy?
What concrete and visual aids can be used to help pupils understand
more?
Are there opportunities to check for pupils understanding at various points,
and to note and act on any misconceptions or misunderstandings?
Are there opportunities, particularly at the start, to check pupils prior
knowledge of the subject and to link to their everyday experiences?
Are there a number of distinct moments in the explanation when the key
points that should be learned are repeated an emphasised?
When and how might it be appropriate to use humour?

C, L & T: 112
Teachers often reinforce verbal explanations by providing pupils with a visual
demonstration, or model. Modelling is an effective learning strategy that allows pupils to ask
questions about and hear explanations related to each stage of the process as it happens
as the teacher can:

think aloud, making apparent and explicit those skills, decisions, processes and
procedures that would otherwise be hidden or unclear
expose pupils to possible pitfalls of the task in hand, showing how to avoid them
demonstrate to pupils that they can make alterations and corrections as part of the
process

Showing learners what to do while talking them through the activity and linking new
learning to old through questions, resources, activities and language is sometimes referred
to as scaffolding. The idea is that learners are supported in carrying out a task by the use
of language to guide their action. The next stage in scaffolding is for the learner to talk
themselves through the task. Then that talk ca, in turn, become an internalised guide to the
action and thought of the learner. Combining verbal and visual explanations can be more
effective than using verbal explanations exclusively, particularly with pupils who prefer a
visual learning style.
Presenting
A presentation is meant to inform, to describe or to explain. A classroom presentation
should not resemble a higher education lecture. It should be informal and spontaneous, and
as short as possible (no longer than 10 minutes with younger pupils). Such an exposition
can be interrupted by other short activities, such as a dialogue or individual tasks.
If you want the presentation to achieve its objectives, it needs to have a clear
structure that the pupils can grasp. It is always helpful to present at the very beginning the
structure of the exposition. Tell your pupils first what you are going to say, then say it, and
then tell them what you have said! A way of involving the pupils is to ask them to take down
notes. Alternatively, you can give them a handout with a gapped structure of your
presentation, and ask them to complete it as you are presenting.
A thorough, high quality presentation can motivate and inspire your pupils. However,
during the presentation the pupils may want help, especially if a new topic is introduced.
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They need to have a vision of the new knowledge, to understand why it is important and
relevant, how it fits in with their previous work and knowledge, how it will contribute to their
mastery of English.
A good presentation will stimulate your pupils intellectual curiosity; it may review,
organize and consolidate their previous knowledge of the topic, or it can make the new
learning more personal. Also, it can give guidance to the pupils about the styles and
techniques to be used in doing work on the new topic.
At personal level your pupils may need help in order to see how they may personally
identify with the new topic, how they can build clear images of what the topic is about.
They may feel the need to share the excitement of the discovery with their classmates.
Whole class presentations are particularly valuable at the beginning, at the end and
at critical points in the lesson, such as topic changes, or where the concepts that need to be
taught are difficult. Also, after a period of time of independent activities (individual, in pairs
or in small groups), your pupils will be prepared to work again together as a class for the
consolidation of their work. At this stage, you should encourage pupil contributions, as they
can report back, discuss the issues raised during independent work, revise and consolidate,
assess the quality of the work done and evaluate the topic.
Teacher as presenter. During presentations, you are the focus of attention, playing
a number of related roles: organizer, information source, or discussion leader. The pupils
are relatively passive, listening, following instructions, responding to questions, and making
contributions when you invite them to do so.
Here are a few suggestions:

Get the attention of your class before you start. Either insist on their paying attention to
you or give them something to do (e.g. writing a title, an introductory example or
statement). This will bring the class into the work frame of mind.
Your first sentences must be attention holding. Appeal to their curiosity, surprise them,
intrigue them or move them emotionally.
Keep your voice level to the minimum necessary. A low voice creates a feeling of
expectancy, gives a sense of importance to the occasion, and builds a sense of mutual
confidence, a serious and trusting atmosphere.
Vary the volume and pace to give variety.
Occasionally, make appeal to feelings and use a more theatrical language. Temper
your projections of personality with sensitivity.
Do not forget that there is virtue in silence. A pregnant pause in a presentation can be
effective. Offer silence to your pupils so that they can reflect and consider their
responses. Build in pauses in which you invite the pupils to summaries what you have
said so far.
Be simple, be brief and be human. Start with plenty of examples and then gradually
introduce new vocabulary or more complex statements.
Remember that much communication is non-verbal; how you look, where and how you
stand, how you move are all observed and registered by the pupils.

Remember that no matter how good your presentation is, you cannot use it for
lengthy periods, as their span of attention is limited. It is better to introduce variety and more
pupil participation. The most common way of doing this is by using class questions.
Questioning
One technique in the scaffolding process for actively involving pupils in their learning
is questioning.
Asking questions effectively. Effective use of questioning is a valuable part of
interactive teaching. However, if not handled effectively, pupils misunderstand and/or
become confused. To use questioning effectively you need to consider:
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Why you are asking the question(s)

What type of question(s) you are going to ask
When you are going to ask the question(s)
How you are going to ask question(s)
Of whom you are going to ask a question, how you expect the question to be answered,
how you are going to respond if the pupil does not understand the question or gives an
inappropriate answer, and how long you are going to wait for the answer.

However, you cannot plan your questioning rigidly; you must be flexible, adapting
your plan during the lesson to take account of the development of the lesson.
Asking questions is not a simple process.
Think First!
Before continuing to read this text, think back to your own
schooldays and try to explain why you were asked questions:

Questions are asked for many reasons. Your motive in questioning is usually to get
your pupils to engage with the language material actively through speech. But there are
other various reasons why you might ask a question in the classroom:

to provide a model for language or thinking

to find out something from the pupils (facts, ideas, opinions)
to check or test understanding, knowledge or skill
to get the class to be active in their learning
to direct attention to the topic being learned
to inform the class via the answers of the stronger pupils rather than through your input
to provide weaker pupils with an opportunity to participate
to stimulate their thinking (logical, reflective or imaginative) and to make them probe
more deeply into issues
to get pupils to review and practise previously learnt material
to encourage thinking and self-expression
to communicate to them that you are genuinely interested in what they think
to develop a discussion.

Questions show different levels of complexity and abstraction, from those which
demand factual, descriptive answers to those which are more complex and require more
sophisticated thinking from pupils. Remember that pupils cognitive abilities and levels of
achievement can be increased when they are challenged and have regular access to
higher-order thinking. Questions can be classified according to various criteria:

the kind of thinking they try to elicit (plain recall, analysis, or evaluation)
whether they are genuine or display questions (does the teacher really want to
know the answer, or is she simply checking if the pupil does?)
whether they are closed- or open-ended (do they have a single right answer or
many?).

Closed and open questions

The most common reason for asking questions is to check that pupils have learned
what they are supposed to have learned or that they have memorised certain facts or
pieces of information. These are called closed questions. There is only one correct answer;
pupils recall information. The pupils either know the answer or not, no real thought is
required. Closed questions may be given to the whole class, with answers coming
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instantaneously. A short closed question answer session might reinforce learning, refresh
pupils memories or provide a link to new work.
Say which of the following questions seem to be closed and why.
1.
How do most people travel to work in your city or town?
..
2.
Is there a subway in your country?
..
3.
What is the number of Richards house on Linden Street?
..
4.
What topics do you usually talk about with someone you meet
for the first time?
..
5.
Do you like staying in a hotel?
..
(questions from Howard Beckerman, Family Album, U.S.A, Editura Univers, 1993)

By way of contrast, open questions have several possible answers and it may be
impossible to know if an answer is correct. These questions are often used to encourage
divergent thinking and to develop understanding. They are much more complex than closed
questions. They are designed to extend pupils understanding of a topic. To answer them
the pupil has to think and manipulate information by reasoning and applying information
and using knowledge, logic and imagination. Open questions cannot usually be answered
quickly. Pupils probably need time to gather information, sift evidence, advance
hypotheses, discuss ideas and plan answers.
You can ask closed and open questions or a combination of the two as a series of
questions. The questions in a series can start with a few easy closed questions and then
move on to more complex open questions. A series of questions takes time to build up if
they are to be an integral part of the learning process. They must be planned as an integral
part of the lesson not as time filler at the end of the lesson when their effect is lost.
Questions at the end of the lesson are more likely to be closed-recall questions to help
pupils remember what they have been taught in the lesson.
Other aspects of questioning that are important to consider: who you address the
questions to the whole class, to groups or to specific named individuals? Moreover,
questions can be spoken, written on the board or given out on printed sheets. Answers can
be given at once or produced after deliberation, either spoken or written.
Effective questioning is a skill you must develop as a teacher. An effective
questioning technique is one that elicits fairly prompt, motivated, relevant and full
responses. If your questions result in long silences, are answered by only the strongest
pupils, bore the class, or elicit only very brief or unsuccessful answers, then there is
probably something wrong. Effective questioning should follow a few criteria:

Clarity. The pupils should immediately grasp what the question means, and what kind
of answer is required. The language must be simple, clear and unambiguous.
Learning value. The questioning should start with an invitation to observe or identify.
The question should stimulate thinking and responses that will contribute to further
learning of the target material. It shouldnt be irrelevant, unhelpful or merely time-filling.
The key word is What?
What are the people in the picture doing?
What is the difference between these two animals?
What surprised you in this anecdote?
What is this?

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Interest. The pupils should find the question interesting, challenging, stimulating.
Availability. Most of the pupils in the class should be able to answer the question.
However, allowing a few seconds wait-time before accepting a response can make the
question available to a larger number of pupils.
Extension. The question should invite and encourage extended and/or varied answers.
Try to eliminate questions which can be answered simply by Yes or No, or by any single
word. Questions likely to get fuller answers often start with Why? How?, What
would happen if?
Grading. The questions should build up to higher levels of thinking.

Follow-up questions can be used to probe further, encourage pupils to develop their
answers, extend their thinking, change the direction of the questioning and distributing
questions to involve the whole class. Non-verbal aspects of communication such as eyecontact, gesture, body language, tone of voice, humour, smiles and frowns are important in
effective questioning because they go with the words that are used.
You can use several prompts to help pupils answer questions: verbal prompts (cues,
reminders, tips, references to previous lessons or giving part of a sentence for pupils to
complete); gestural prompts (pointing to an object or modelling a behaviour), and physical
prompts (guiding pupils through motor skills). The way you respond to your pupils answers
will affect the way they perform at the time but also the way they will perform in the future.
You will need to respond to content not only to the language form. If there is no answer at
all during questioning, if your pupils cannot think of what to say, prompt them forwards. This
kind of help has to be offered gently, with tact and discretion.
Here are a few suggestions for managing your pupils answers:

Be prepared to wait for an answer. Refrain from filling the gap immediately if the
question is met with initial silence. During the silence, use non-verbal communication,
give encouraging nods or raise your eyebrows. You may also try a short prompt. Signal
that you are actually enjoying the silence and are not in the least embarrassed or
annoyed.
Encourage pupil answers. Praise the good answers and preserve the self-esteem of
those who give wrong answers. The pupils should be sure that their responses will be
treated with respect, that they will not be put down or ridiculed if they say something
inappropriate. Give help if you see it is needed during an answer.
Try to get answers from as many pupils as possible. Responding only to the bright and
eager tends to focus attention on them at the expense of the others. A reluctant pupil
can be helped by being nominated to answer an easy question.
Encourage answers which express the pupils personal thoughts or feelings, or which
are bold and imaginative. Even if it is incorrect, such an answer deserves praise.
Encourage respect for the contribution of others. Set a good example of respect,
courtesy and constructiveness and then expect it of the pupils. Do not tolerate sarcasm,
aggression, or destructive criticism.
Avoid the common pitfalls or errors in questioning:

asking too many questions at one

asking a question and answering it yourself
asking questions only of the brightest or most likeable pupils
asking a difficult question too early in the sequence of events
asking irrelevant questions
always asking the same type of questions (e.g. closed ones)
asking questions in a threatening way
not indicating a change in the type of question
not using probing questions
not giving pupils the time to think

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not correcting wrong answers

ignoring pupils answers
failing to see the implications of pupils answers
failing to build on answers
Dealing with pupils spontaneous questions

Dealing with pupils spontaneous questions is an important aspect of unplanned

classroom management. You have to make quick decisions about whether to answer,
postpone, or dismiss a spontaneous question. As usual in classroom management, you
have options and you have to make a quick decision concerning your response. Being
honest about why a question is not being answered can give pupils information about the
learning process. Saying let me look that up so I can check all the details is a reminder
that everyone, teachers as well as pupils, should make use of reference material.
Postponing the question is something teachers do whether or not they need to look it up.
They might say, Thats an important question, but if I answer it now I think it will muddle
you about the grammar point we are looking at today. Let me come back to that next week.
Making a scribbled note of the question as the pupils watch lets them see that the teacher is
taking the question seriously. However, when a pupil asks a question about a point you
have just explained, the first step is to gauge whether others too need further explanation
(Please put your hands up if you would like to hear the answer to that). The show of hands
will suggest whether more explanation is needed. If only a few hands go up, you can ask
those pupils to listen later when most of the class has started an exercise.
Class dialogue
In class dialogue, you lead the thinking of the class by asking questions and building
on the responses received from the pupils. Class dialogue should be carefully prepared.
You might start with familiar examples, with the presentation of a stimulus (a picture, a
drawing, a map, a piece of text, a recording, etc.) which has the aim of rousing the pupils
curiosity. Then your questioning can help the pupils to build upon their existing knowledge
and understanding. Gradually you help them to recognize general principles or rules and
finally give them opportunities to demonstrate their understanding by applying it.
Questioning is a universally used activation technique in teaching, mainly within the
IRF (Initiation Response Feedback) pattern. If we consider a question to be a teachers
utterance which has the objective of eliciting an oral response from the pupils, we need to
understand that teacher questions are not always realised by interrogatives, e.g. Well
describe what is going on in this picture, Tell me what you can see in this picture, etc. It is
often hard to prepare the exact wording of the questions in advance, as the questions need
to be adapted to the responses which are previously received.
Getting the best responses from the pupils calls for patience and skill. In the role of
discussion leader you need to exercise a democratic, rather than an authoritarian style.
Pupils contributions must be encouraged with reinforcement, prompting and occasional
summaries as to where the discussion has reached.
Effective questioning leads to class discussion. However, an average class may be
too big to operate as a successful discussion group. That is why you have to be in firm
control, and the rules for discussion should be clearly established. In the role of discussion
leader you need to be neutral and to exercise a democratic style.
A class discussion must be brought to a satisfactory close by summarising the main
points made and the conclusions reached. Discussion techniques are particularly useful for
topics involving personal attitudes and in problem solving.
Listening
For effective communication, being able to listen effectively and take account of the
response is as important as being able to send the message effectively. Learn to recognise
and be sensitive to whether or not a message has been received properly by a pupil, e.g.
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you get a bewildered look or an inappropriate answer to a question. Be able to react

appropriately, e.g. repeat the same question or rephrase it. However, also reflect on why
the communication was not effective, e.g. was the pupil not listening to you? If so, why? For
example, had the pupil switched off in a boring lesson or was the question worded
inappropriately? Do not assume that pupils have your grasp of meaning and vocabulary.
Wragg and Brown (2001: 34) identify four types of listening:
Skim listening little more than awareness that a pupil is talking (often when the
answer seems irrelevant); Survey listening trying to build a wider mental map of what the
pupil is talking about; Search listening actively searching for specific information in an
answer; Study listening a blend of survey and search listening to identify the underlying
meaning and uncertainties of the words the pupil is using.

It is easy to ask a question and then to switch off while an answer is being given, to
think about the next question or next part of the lesson. This lack of interest conveys itself
to the pupils. It is distracting for them to know that the teacher is not listening and not
responding to what is being said. Also, you may convey boredom and indifference, which
has negative impact on the tone of the lesson. Effective listening is an active process, with
a range of non-verbal and verbal responses that convey the message to the pupil speaking
that you are listening to what is being said. Effective listening is associated with conveying
enthusiasm and generating interest, by providing reinforcement and constructive feedback
to pupils. These include looking alert, looking at the pupil; who is talking to you, smiling,
nodding and making verbal signals to show you have received and understood the
message or to encourage the pupil to continue, e.g. yes, I see what you mean, go on,
oh dear, mmm, uh-huh.

3 Getting Organised
Some of the options the teacher needs to take come at key moments: the beginning
of the lesson, the start of an activity, the end of an activity, when a discipline problem
occurs in the lesson. A decision taken at such critical moments has great impact.
You need to develop clear routines for monitoring and controlling, for regular
organizational tasks such as taking the roll, distributing materials, clearing away at the end
of the lesson, forming pairs and groups, using equipment.
Adopt a supervisory role at regular intervals throughout the lesson. All gestures and
signals can be effective: a finger to the lips, a hand signal to sit down, a finger to beckon, a
nod to approve something to happen, a head shake to signal disapproval, etc. If it is really
necessary to speak, approach the pupil and say it quietly, not to disturb the rest of the
class.
Anticipate discipline problems and act quickly and decisively. If you are uncertain of
the cause of a disruption (which is very common), approach the disruptive pupil in a noncritical way, asking her/him to report what progress has been made or what problems have
been encountered. Where the misbehaviour is overt, remove the pupil from any possible
audience. Set the pupil to work in a different part of the room, making it clear that s/he may
return when s/he has finished the task. This helps the pupil to accept the arrangement.
Avoid confrontation, which is public and emotionally charged, and can result in conflict
escalation.
Getting started. A first impression is always important. Pupils tune in to the image
which you present to them from the first appearance. Make sure you arrive in time and with
everything you need for the class. Your leaving the classroom or sending pupils to fetch
forgotten items breaks the continuity and gives an opportunity for the pupils minds to
wander.
Glance around to make sure the classroom and resources are in a state of
readiness, with windows open or shut (as they suit you and your pupils) and the board
clean. If not, ask the pupils to help. Then look around to see where the pupils are sitting and
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if their seating arrangement suits you. You may also need to ask pupils to put away things
from their desks.
Make sure you are ready before beginning the actual lesson. Arrange your books,
papers, etc. so that you can pick them up easily as you need them. Keep calm and do not
rush to start. The time you take to get organised may seem shorter to the pupils than you
may think. Allow your pupils to continue to talk quietly, while remaining in their seats, until
you announce that you are ready to begin the lesson. This prevents you from being under
pressure and also makes it clear that when you require silence the lesson will begin.
Make a clear and definite start. You can declare yourself ready by saying clearly and
quite loudly Good morning / afternoon, everybody and waiting for silence before going on.
Then, say briefly what the plan for the lesson is, so that your pupils can be aware of the way
they are progressing through the work, e.g. Today were going to learn. Well be using
Unit in our books. Ive brought for you to Well do some pair work, too But first of
all, I want to ask you
When your way of beginning will become familiar to your pupils, they may even get
prepared for the lesson without you having to ask. The routine nature of this part of the
lesson establishes a secure environment. It sets up an atmosphere that is friendly but
purposeful and conducive to serious and organized work.
Moving from one activity to another. During a lesson, the class moves from one
activity to another. You may also want to change the pattern of interaction from time to time,
so that for some part of the lesson pupils are working with each other, in pairs or in groups.
The activities you choose must suit the objectives you have for the lesson, and many of
them will be based on material in the textbook. There is a wide range of activities which you
can use:

all pupils listening to recorded material

pupils repeating individually or chorally
individual pupils responding to you
pupils reading silently (e.g. sections of the coursebook)
pupils completing written exercises individually
pupils working in pairs to complete written exercises
pupils doing oral practice in pairs
pupils solving problems in groups
pupils preparing material (stories, questions, etc.) in groups
group discussion of a topic
pupils completing tests individually, etc.

For all pupils, but especially for the weaker ones, a change of activity is motivating as
it gives a new chance to those who have not enjoyed or not done well in the last activity.
Transitions. It is a good idea to mark transition moments, using transition signals,
e.g.: Right. Weve finished, so well leave our books for today and go on to I want you
to listen to and decide There is little point in beginning a new activity while some pupils
are still trying to work out what they must do. For this reason, it is well worth checking and
confirming that everyone has understood.
Always try to move from one part of the lesson to another without allowing a gap to
occur. It is quite difficult to regain the attention of a class, particularly a large one.
Sometimes you can prepare for the next activity while the pupils are busy finishing
the previous one (e.g. you can write something on the board). It is important not to reveal all
the idea for a lesson at the beginning of the period. For instance, if you intend to use a
picture, do not put it on show from the beginning of the class: pin it up and cover it with a
large sheet of paper that can be removed easily. When you show it to the class, the pupils
will have something fresh to focus on and their motivation will be helped. In the same way, if
you are going to use handouts, keep them until the time they are to be used arrives.
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Overhead projectors are especially useful in this respect because you can prepare the
material in advance and reveal it to the class bit by bit.
Pictures and handouts should be made visible or available to all the pupils as quickly
as possible. When you have handouts or other papers to distribute to a large class, do not
try to give every paper yourself to each pupil. A number of handouts can be given to pupils
at different points in the class, asking them to take one and pass the rest on. Then wait
quietly for a few moments so that the pupils have time to look at what they have received. If
you begin speaking at once, many pupils will simply not listen as they will be preoccupied
with what they are looking at. Do not forget that for most people the eyes almost always
take precedence over the ears.
Ending a lesson. Keep an eye on the time so that you are not in the middle of an
activity when the lesson should be ending. Give the homework towards the end but not in
the last few seconds of the lesson. If homework is given too early, some pupils may try to
do it during the lesson. If it is given too late, there may be no time to sort out any difficulties.
It is often a good idea to tell the class what the homework is and then finish the lesson with
an activity which helps with the tasks you have set. This gives an opportunity for any
problems to be raised and helps to make the pupils feel confident that they will be able to
do the homework.
It is better to finish a little early rather than late, even if you have to say Well have to
leave this exercise until another day. Its almost time for the end of the lesson. The pupils
will appreciate your courtesy in finishing on time. Conclude the lesson, rather than just stop
by saying something which indicates that you have finished. For instance, refer to what has
been done and to what you plan to do next.
When you are not in a hurry to your next lesson, take time gathering up your
materials and books. Then, individual pupils have an opportunity to speak to you informally,
and you may have time to say a few friendly words (in English) to some of the pupils. Of
course, you must not delay pupils and make them late for their next lesson.
Leave the classroom in good order as you would expect to find it. You can ask the
pupils to help you. Even if it is normal in your school for a pupil to be asked to clean the
board, you should ensure that it is clean before you leave the classroom and, if necessary,
clean it yourself.

4 Patterns of Interaction
Classroom interaction is central to effective instruction. However, your pupils work
better in some circumstances than in others: some pupils may prefer a collaborative and
conversational style, with interruptions and more than one pupil talking at a time. Others
tend to be less active and yet others more independent.
The most common type of classroom interaction is that known as IRF: Initiation
Response Feedback. The teacher initiates an exchange, usually in the form of a
question, one of the pupils answers, the teacher gives feedback (in the form of assessment,
correction, or comment), then initiates the next question, and so on. There are however,
alternative patterns: the initiative does not always have to be in your hands. Interaction may
be between pupils, or between a pupil and the material.
Here are some interaction patterns ordered from most teacher-dominated to most
pupil-active:

Teacher talk: the teacher is talking or reading aloud with all pupils listening. There may
be some kind of silent pupil response, such as writing from dictation or making notes in
notebooks. There is no initiative on the part of the pupils.
Closed-ended teacher questioning: the teacher asks a question which can get only
one right response.
Open-ended teacher questioning: the teacher asks a question to which there are a
number of possible right answers, so that more pupils answer each cue.

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Choral response: the teacher gives a model which is repeated by all the class in
chorus; or gives a cue which is responded to in chorus.
Pupil initiates, teacher answers: the pupils think of questions and the teacher
responds. Such an interaction pattern can be found in guessing games. The teacher
decides who asks the question.
Five types of pupil groupings are common in the classroom:

Whole-class interaction: the whole class is working together with the teacher; the
pupils debate a topic or do a language task as a class. The teacher may intervene
occasionally to stimulate participation or to monitor.
Individual work: the teacher gives a task or set of tasks, and the pupils work on them
independently. They may also mix together as individuals. The teacher walks around
monitoring and assisting where necessary.
Collaboration or pair work: the pupils do the same sort of tasks as in individual work,
but work together, usually in pairs. The teacher may or may not intervene. This is
different from group work where the task itself necessitates interaction.
Group work (done in small groups of three to eight pupils): the pupils work on tasks
that entail interaction, conveying information or making decisions. The teacher walks
around listening and intervenes little if at all.
Self-access: the pupils choose their own learning tasks, and work autonomously

Varying groupings is one way of enabling a variety of experiences for the learners.
The range of activity patterns is infinite, but we can group them into two main
categories:
1. whole class teacher-led activities
2. pupils independent activities
whole class

teacher presentation
class dialogue
pupil activities

tutorial

briefing
reviewing
discussion

Teacher-led activities

individual work

Independent activities

library work
course work
project work
homework
private study
discussions
collaborative projects
private reading
use of audio/video/IT technology

pair work

small group work

Fig. 2.1 The components of classroom management

(after Philip Watehouse, Classroom Management, Network Educational
Press, Stafford, 1990, p.13)

Teacher-led activities and independent activities

Teacher-led activities. These are the best known of teaching arrangements, and
they are often referred to as traditional teaching. Although traditional, if they are well done,
teacher-led activities (also called lockstep teaching) can be very powerful. These activities
include: teacher presentation, class dialogue and teacher-led pupil activities.
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What are, in your opinion, the advantages and disadvantages of

whole class teacher-led activities?

Independent activities. Independent activities can be done individually, in pairs or

in groups.
Independent activities can range from pupils doing exercises on their own, to
activities where pupils take charge of their own learning in self-access centres or out-ofclass activities. Such independent activities are a vital preparation for the development of
the pupils learning autonomy.
When you wish your pupils to work on their own in class, you can, for instance, ask
them to read a text privately and then answer questions individually, or you can ask them to
complete worksheets with different tasks or to write tasks by themselves. You can give
them worksheets with several different tasks and allow them to choose which tasks to do.
Or you can hand out different worksheets to different pupils depending on their skills, needs
or tastes. You can allow your pupils to do some research on their own or choose what they
want to read or listen to.
Pupils enjoy to be given some degree of independence. While they need your
guidance and help, they also need their own time and space, and some freedom in making
decisions of their own. However, simply getting the pupils to work on their own is no
guarantee of a high level of motivation.

Individual work is a good opportunity for the pupils to work entirely alone. Such an
opportunity should be given frequently to all pupils. Good prior instructions are
essential, as is the need to give additional support if it is required.
Paired work is very popular and usually the classroom seating decides the pairing. It is
easy to use the pair as the normal unit for independent work and to break for individual
work occasionally, or combine with other pairs for small group work.
Small group work can be very productive, but it is not easy to manage. Many young
pupils may run into difficulties when they are left on their own. Working well as a
member of a small group is an advanced activity which even adults may find hard to
handle. That is why you need to offer constant care and monitoring of the group
progress.

Whole class teacher-led activities. Whole class activities play an important part in
classroom management. They can be very attractive and powerful, and they can be an
opportunity for you to show your charisma.

A teachers presentation can be very effective if it is done for short periods and with
sparkle. The pupils can be inspired and stimulated by the charisma of a teacher with
good presentation skills.
Class dialogue (also known as the Socratic method) is a very useful method. By
skilful questioning, you can lead the thinking of the class. Class dialogue is best when it
is lively and motivating for the pupils. However, it needs firm and careful handling, as it
can lose its vitality and become mechanical and repetitive.
Pupil activities, that is giving the pupils something to do, help to bring variety into
whole class teaching. The pupils may all repeat something in the chorus; or respond to
a cue, they may take notes, or write after dictation. The teacher remains in control of
what is happening, but the pupils are given opportunities to be active.

Tutorials. Not as common as whole class teaching, mostly used in private schools,
tutorials (extra-class small group work) are also teacher led. Tutorials can make a real
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difference to the quality of the pupils learning. During tutorials, you can help the pupils to
prepare for their next assignment, give them guidance, and indicate resources, possible
problems or standards. Reviews can also be organised during tutorials to look back at the
work which has been completed, and to assess it. Tutorials can be organised to encourage
the pupils to talk about their work, and to explore issues and ideas together, or to allow you
to help them overcome their difficulties. Working in a small group, during tutorials it is easier
to identify problems and to offer pupils more personal and individualised support.
Whole class teaching is an important part of a teachers repertoire of methods, and
has a lot of potential. It relies on teacher talk, which may be more or less inspiring and
motivating. That is why, during class teaching the pupils may become passive as individual
differences are ignored and their motivation may decrease. However, class teaching has its
place in the repertoire of a teacher, provided it is not the only method in use!
Pupils independent activities
Before reading the next section, try to think of a few important
advantages of pupils independent activities.

Independent learning is characterized by the pupils active and responsible

participation in the lesson:

the pupils show study skills (personal organization and learning skills)
they take active steps to prepare for work
they show initiative in finding the resources they need for the work assigned
they show initiative in getting help from their classmates before seeking help from the
teacher
they offer help to classmates
they contribute to the task in a responsible way
they are often organized in teams
they often follow up classroom work with further investigation
they are so involved or absorbed in their work that the teacher is able to step back.

Independent learning can take place in various groupings: individual, pair or team /
small group. The pupils need to be thoroughly prepared and briefed for independent
learning tasks and they should be constantly monitored and controlled.
Two modes of independent learning can be distinguished a) supervised study
(individual or paired work), and b) supported independent work (individual, paired or small
group).
Mode

Pupil grouping

Supervised learning

Briefing for
task

individual or paired

Monitoring and
control
Teacher circulating

whole class
Supported
independent work

individual paired or
small group

Teacher circulating
group

Adapted after Waterhouse P., 1990, Classroom Management, Network Educational

Press, Stafford, p. 56

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Supervised learning
In supervised learning, the teacher sets a task or a series of tasks to be done
individually, or in pairs. After you give the explanation of what to do and how to do it to the
class as a whole, the individual pupils or pairs then proceed with their tasks. Your role is to
monitor to move around the class, checking that everyone is on task, helping with
problems, making suggestions, giving advice, supervising work and behaviour. During such
an activity, you can find opportunity to talk to individuals or small groups. This system helps
the pupils to be more active and this can be an important move towards real pupil
independence.
However, when working individually, the pupils may feel deprived of the stimulus of
working with other people, or they may find out that they are unable to make decisions and
are still dependent on your directions.
Here are a few suggestions for how you can reduce the pupils dependence on the
teacher:

brief thoroughly before the task

allocate enough time for the task
make sure the task is at the right level and the pupils can cope with it and the resources
necessary for it
encourage the pupils to seek help from each other
spend time listening to individual pupils, encouraging them to expand on their difficulties
and their problems
refrain from answering a pupils question directly; try to get the same pupil to answer
the question or get another pupil to join in
intervene by asking questions of your own to find out how well they have understood
the task
do not revert to class teaching, although this may seem an economical way of solving
problems
keep a low profile, monitoring quietly and unobtrusively.
Supported independent learning

The concept of supported independent learning or individualized learning is

sometimes identified with the provision of a self-access centre, or a full self-access learning
programme. These offer various kinds of materials, and the pupils may participate in the
choice of materials, and then work on their own, in groups or in pairs.
Individualized learning may have a more modest sense, too: the pupils are given a
measure of freedom to choose how and what they learn at a particular time. This implies
less direct teacher supervision and more learner autonomy and responsibility for learning.
Tasks and materials are adapted or selected to suit the individual.
Individualized learning is a serious attempt to provide for different learner needs and
to place a higher responsibility for learning on the learners themselves. Individualized
learning is the opposite of lockstep learning, where everyone in the class is expected to do
the same thing, at the same time, in the same way.
Procedures that allow for individual choice include:
1. Speed: how fast or slowly each individual may work (everyone being engaged in the
same basic task)
2. Level: tasks may be presented in easier or more difficult versions, so that the pupil can
choose the one that suits his/her level
3. Topic: the pupil will be able to select tasks that vary in the subject or topic, while all are
based on the same language skill or teaching point
4. Language skill or teaching point: each pupil may choose to work on a different
aspect of language (e.g. listening, grammar, reading, etc).
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Try to summaries the disadvantages of pupils individualized

learning.

Cooperative learning
Most foreign language teachers hope to teach small classes in which pupils are more
or less homogeneous in terms of foreign language proficiency. However, most teachers find
themselves working with a class of thirty or more pupils who exhibit a wide range of
abilities. This less than ideal situation often leads to the use of teaching methodology which
does not promote optimal learning: interaction in the classroom is dominated by a teacher
who ignores individual differences with the pupils mainly responding to the teachers
initiatives. Another characteristic is one in which every pupil in class is doing more or less
the same thing, at the same time, and in the same way (Ur, 1996: 233).
Cooperative learning can be implemented by a number of principles and techniques,
and when carefully planned and executed, it can lead to a dynamic classroom interaction
that promotes more learning. Benefits of cooperative learning include (Richards &
Renandya: 49 f.):

Less teacher talk

Increased student talk
More varied student talk
More negotiation of meaning
A greater amount of comprehensible input
A more relaxed classroom atmosphere
Greater motivation for learning

With cooperative learning, pupils work together in groups whose usual size is two to
four members. However, cooperative learning is more than just putting students in groups
and giving them something to do. Cooperative learning principles and techniques are tools
which teachers use to encourage mutual helpfulness in the groups and the active
participation of all members. In planning and executing cooperative learning, you have
many decisions to make. In the planning stage you need to think about questions such as
whether to stimulate intrinsic or extrinsic motivation, how much choice to give pupils in such
matters as how, about what, and with whom they will collaborate and how tightly to
structure activities to help encourage effective cooperation.

5 Pupils Groupings
Pair work and group work
In pair and group work pupils perform a learning task through interaction. Both pair
and group work are forms of learner activation that are of particular value in the practice of
oral fluency. They have the added advantages of fostering learner responsibility and
independence, of improving motivation and contributing to a feeling of cooperation and
warmth in the class.
Pair and group work can mark a transition from one stage of the lesson to the next. If
the pupils are reluctant to join in group work, then the first step is to overcome their
preconceptions. Here are a few arguments you can use (Lewis, 44):

Groups are a chance to speak without the teacher noticing mistakes;

When the students complain about having to listen to all the other students bad English
when they get into groups, point out that communication involves listening to everyone
and making sense whether people speak slowly or fast, formally or informally.

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Make the activities age-appropriate.

Make the purpose of each activity clear beforehand;
Call for student feedback on group activities. What went well? What could be changed?
Start with self-selected groupings, so that students are working with people they know or
like;
Show connections between group activities and the rest of the programme to overcome
the belief that group work is an extra.

If the barrier to group work is managing large numbers, you could experiment
different types of group work which call for different management skills: free discussions,
projects, or tasks. In free-discussion groups, you can use the multilevel nature of the class
to advantage by appointing specific roles to avoid problems such as having one student
dominating the group and others sitting passively. A chairperson invites people to speak
and holds back those who have talked long enough; a timekeeper watches that the group
moves on to various stages of the activity, a reporter takes notes ready for reporting back.
Another type of group work is the project. Projects involve collating material from a
number of sources (the Internet, libraries, informants, etc.)
The most specific type of small-group activity in the language class is the task (e.g.
to categorise a collection of words). A task requires input data, procedures, goals, and
specific roles for teachers and learners.
Whether the group work activity is a discussion, a project, or a more specific task, it
can have a variety of goals/aims. In a multilevel class, aims can be graded for different
members of the group, according to their language competence, by modifying:

The topic (more abstract or more applied)

The language difficulty (two versions of the same text)\
The amount of input
The graphic support (more or fewer pictures)
The time taken to finish
The level of language students are expected to use for the same purpose
The length of the final product
The amount of support from the teacher and from other students.

Some teachers may be hesitant about using pair and group work with very large
classes. They fear that they will have difficulty in controlling the pupils. There is no doubt
that collaborative work can lead to a lot of noise if it is not controlled carefully. For this
reason, you may find it useful to explain why you want to do pair work and group work and
to impress upon the class the need to behave in a responsible way. On the first one or two
occasions when you organise pair or group work, you should be especially firm in dealing
with noisy or troublesome pupils.
Some thinking needs to be given to the life-span of the group. While permanent
groups may not be the best solution, constant changes are not advisable, either.
A group should start with a clearly defined task to be done within a defined time. This
helps the pupils build a sense of team identity but also removes the fear of being locked into
a grouping which an individual may feel uncomfortable with. While the pupils are working in
pairs or groups, you need to observe how well they interact together. You will need to
change the pairs to groups in future if you notice that some pupils cannot concentrate on
the task and talk about something else (usually in Romanian), that one pupil dominates the
group, or that some weaker pupils are lost.
The advantages of pair and group work soon become apparent. Questions directed
at the pairs or at the teams can anticipate longer, more thoughtful answers, which are the
result of group deliberation. This overcomes the main disadvantage of the class dialogue
which can degenerate into a succession of short questions, with one-word answers
supplied by the bright and eager, and the teacher jumping from one student to another in
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search of the right answer. In the collaborative work approach, different solutions can be
explored, and pupils can learn to justify their arguments to their fellow group members.
As with other forms of organisation, pair and group work can be overdone. The
teachers challenge is to decide which class activities can best be done individually, which
work well in pairs or groups, and which call for whole-class work.
Pair work organisation. The amount of practice each pupil gets is greatly
increased by the use of pair work. The pupils can sit either facing each other for
conversation or side by side when looking at the same book or paper. Pair work can be
done simply by some pupils turning round or moving along a bit to sit with a partner. Young
learners tend to prefer to make pairs with their special friends and this is often perfectly
satisfactory. However, it is a good idea sometimes to vary who sits with whom. It is sensible
to be more selective about pairing if you are planning an activity which is long and perhaps
difficult for some pupils. You may wish to try to pair a good pupil with a less able one, if this
can be done without it being too obvious.
For quick snippets of oral practice, use random pairing which occurs as a result of
seating. This has the advantage of not interrupting the flow of the lesson too much.
To organise pair work, you need to give a clear directive, e.g. We can do this as pair
work. Will the front row please turn round and work with the people behind them. Pupils
soon get used to the idea of pairing, and a simple Well do this in pairs prompts them to sort
themselves out quite quickly and quietly.
Group work organisation. Group work tends to occur less frequently but pupils who
have got used to pair work can easily be put into groups..
Group size. Generally speaking, the smaller the group, the more each member talks
and the less chance there is that someone will be left out. If time is short, smaller groups
can usually do an activity more quickly. Smaller groups also require fewer groupmanagement skills. Thus, when starting group work, groups of two (pairs) or three may be
best.
The advantage of larger groups is that they provide more people for doing big tasks,
increase the variety of pupils in terms of their skills, personalities, backgrounds, and reduce
the number of groups for the teacher to monitor.
Before you fix the group size, say what resources (books, handouts, etc.) the pupils
will need.
Forming the groups. One way (Jacobs and Hall, 54 f.) is to organise groups as for
pair work, and then say Were going to work in bigger groups, so you three pairs make
Group 1, you three Group 2, and so on. With a class which is used to group work you may
say Were going to do the next activity in groups. So take your notebooks and pens and get
into groups of six, please. A few moments of chaos may follow, but once group work has
become a normal part of the class routine, it will not be much trouble.
Most experts suggest that teacher-selected groups work best. At least until pupils
become proficient at collaboration. Teacher-selected groups usually aim to achieve a
heterogeneous mix. Such a mix promotes peer tutoring, helps to break down barriers
among different types of pupils, and encourages on-task behaviour.
In creating
teacher-assigned groups, factors to consider include language
proficiency, sex and diligence.
An effective way to set up mixed-proficiency groups is to band the learners names in
four proficiency clusters from high to low and then select randomly from within each band
so that groups will involve learners with a range of proficiencies. Other criteria such as sex
and diligence can be considered whom to decide from each band.
Random grouping has the advantage of being quick and conveys the idea that one
can work with anyone. A way of randomising groups is counting off. Take the number of
students in the class, divide by the number of students you want per group. And the result
will be the number students should count to. Other ways of randomising include using
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playing cards, giving out numbered pieces of paper, distributing cards with different
categories on them (such as animals, plants, names of countries, and so on) and letting
students groups themselves according to the category. All the animals would find each
other and form a group, all the plants would look for the other plants, and so forth.
Once the groups have been formed, give clear, precise instructions about what you
want them to do. Also, give examples of what you expect and indicate how much time they
will have to complete the task. The instructions given at the beginning are crucial: if the
pupils do not understand exactly what they have to do there will be time-wasting, confusion,
and lack of effective practice. A preliminary rehearsal or dry run of a sample of the activity
with the full class can help to clarify things.
A group of 4 8 pupils is large enough to produce a variety of opinions and
responses, but small enough to give each pupil a sense of belonging. If each group consists
of an even number of pupils, this allows you to set activities for pairs or for the whole team.
A common approach is to start an activity with paired work and to take the results of pair
work to the whole group.
Some teachers find that having group leaders (different ones on each occasion)
and/or giving each group a name (Group A, Group B, etc. or the Wonder team, the Dream
team, etc.) helps to make the session run smoothly. At first you will probably want to name
the leaders, but in time each group can choose its own. Every group member should have a
job and be answerable to the group. The jobs should be rotated frequently. Also, every
member of the group should know that help for another member of the group is
encouraged.
Select tasks that are simple enough to describe easily. Sometimes it may be costeffective to explain some or all in Romanian.
You should be able to foresee what language will be needed, and have a preliminary
quick review of appropriate grammar or vocabulary. Also, before giving the sign to start, you
should tell the class what the arrangements are for stopping: if there is a time limit, or a set
signal for stopping. If the groups simply stop when they have finished, then you should tell
them what they will have to do next.
In the table below tick the advantages that characterise pair
work, group work or both:
pair
work

group
work

both

increases the amount of pupil speaking time

allows pupils to work and interact independently
promotes pupil independence
allows the teacher time to work with one or two chosen
pairs
helps the classroom to become a more relaxed and more
friendly place
helps pupils to share responsibility
can be easily organised
personal relationships are less problematic
more opinions and more contributions are made public
encourages cooperation and negotiation skills
more private than whole class work
promotes learner autonomy
pupils can choose their level of participation

When pupils become good at working in groups, they can group themselves,
according to their interests, for self-directed projects.
Pair and group work in progress. While the pupils are working in pairs or groups,
you have two options: either to go from group to group, ask and contribute, or keep out of
the way. You could stand at the front, at the back or anywhere else in the classroom, and
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monitor what is happening, or go round the class observing. You can be acting as monitor
or as prompter, resource or tutor.
What can your contribution be during pair and group work?

During pair and group work you have an opportunity to work with individual pupils
whom you feel would benefit from your help. Do not spend too long with one pair or group
as this sometimes leads to other pupils losing interest in the task as they feel you have lost
interest in them. Pair and group work which goes on for too long cause problems as the
pupils get bored.
If you have set a time limit, this will help you to draw the activity to a close at a certain
point. In principle, you should try to finish the activity while the pupils are still enjoying it and
interested, or only just beginning to flag.
A frequent problem is that some pairs or groups will finish earlier than others, and will
want or need to do something else. When they are tired, some will be happy to just wait for
the others to finish. Sometimes you need to organise an individual activity to follow, and
return to a discussion of outcomes when everyone has finished. For such situations, May
(1996: 8) suggests the following solutions:

Setting different word limits for different groups of students,

Providing more able students with different extra tasks rather than just more of the
same.
More suggestions are found in Jacobs and Hall (idem, 56):

Check to see if the groups have done the assignment properly;

Have groups that finish early compare what they have done with other groups that
also finished early;
Have groups discuss how they worked together. Smooth-functioning groups can
provide good models from others and this might help all groups work together more
efficiently.
Develop one or two sponge activities (short activities, related to the main task, that
soak up the extra time between the first and last groups finish).
Ask pupils to help other groups that have not yet finished.
Groups that finish early can work on homework or other assignments.

In other circumstances, you may ask them all to stop the activity after the first pairs or
groups have finished. This solution removes the problem of boredom, but it may demotivate those who have not yet finished.
Getting the classs attention during group work. Un case you feel there is a need
to bring group discussions to a temporary halt, you may raise the hand. When pupils see
this, they are to raise their hands also, bring their discussion to a close and alert other
pupils who may have not seen the teachers raised hand, and face the teacher. Other
possible signals include knocking on the board, ringing a bell, playing a musical instrument,
blowing a whistle, snapping ones fingers or flicking the lights on and off. Some teachers
play music in the background as groups study together. In this case, turning off the music
can be the attention signal. One pupil in each group can take the role of group checker with
the responsibility of watching out for the teachers signal.
Noise level with group work. A signal similar to the one used to get the classs
attention can be used as a sign to continue working more quietly. Another idea is to have
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one pupil per group as noise monitor or quiet captain whose fuinction is to urge the group to
collaborate actively yet quietly. Having pupils sit close together not only helps reduce the
noise level, but also helps foster cooperation and minimises the chance of someone being
left out.
Dealing with reluctant pupils. Discussing the advantages that pupils can derive
from learning in groups may help overcome resistance to group activities. These potential
advantages include learning more, having more fun, and preparing for tasks away from
school in which collaboration is necessary. Pupils may look more favourably on cooperative
learning if they understand that talking with others is a language learning strategy that they
can apply outside of class as well (Oxford, 1990).
Group games may encourage pupils to look forward to other group-learning activities.
Many enjoyable games also teach academic and social skills.
Starting with pair work and assigning tasks that require exchange of inofrmation,
providing language support (vocabulary and structures) so that the pupils are more likely to
succeed, all facilitate group work. Success will build confidence in the ability to work in
groups. Pupils who refuse to work in groups can be allowed to work on their own. After a
while, they may want to take part in the group interaction.
Keeping groups together. Keeping groups together for fairly long periods gives
them a chance to become comfortable with one another, allows them to form a group
identity and bond, and gives the opportunity to learn how to overcome difficulties they have
working together. Groups that stay together for longer periods of time facilitate long-term
projects.
You should resist the tempatation to disband groups that are not working well. Stress
to pupils that we need to learn to be able to work with all sorts of people, including those
whom we do not like. Use team-building activities and instruction in collaborative skills to
help create a spirit of togetherness in groups. However, even when pupils are in long-term
groups, short one-shot activities can be done with different grouping configurations; this
may add variety.
Feedback to pair and group work
When pairs and groups stop working together, a feedback session usually takes
place. The pupils need to discuss what occurred during the activity, and you need to
provide assessment and make corrections. Feedback on the task may take many forms:

giving the right solution (if there is one)

listening to and evaluating suggestions
pooling ideas on the board
displaying materials the groups have produced
having a few pairs or groups to demonstrate the language they used, and so on.

Where the task had definite right or wrong answers, you need to ensure that it was
completed successfully. By comparing solutions, ideas, and problems, the pupils can reach
a better understanding of the task or topic. An alternative is not to treat the discussion of
goals as a whole-class activity, but to discuss with pupils group-by-group how their goals
have been reached.
Your main objective is to express appreciation of the effort that has been invested
and its results. Constructive feedback on pupils work will enhance their motivation.
Feedback on language mistakes is only one part of the process. Feedback on language
may be integrated into the discussion of the task, or provide the focus of a separate lesson
later.
The achievements of the group members could be publicised and recorded either
individually, or as sum totals for the group. Rewards (and minor sanctions) should be given
on a pair or group basis.
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Could you now summarise the disadvantages of group work?

Maximizing student interaction in class

Here are some ideas, selected from Scriveners book:

Create an effective learning environment. Be as honestly yourself as you can be.

Respect the learners. Work on seeing things from their perspective as well as your
own.
Encourage a friendly, relaxed learning environment. A trusting, positive, supportive
rapport among the learners and between learners and teacher leads to a better
chance of useful interaction happening.
Ask questions rather than giving explanations.
When you want the pupils to discuss something, ask open questions.
Allow time for the pupils to listen, think, process their answer and then speak.
Really listen to what they say. Let what they say really affect what you do next. Work
on listening (1) to the student, (2) the meaning as well as (3) the language and (4) the
mistakes.
Allow thinking time without talking over it. Allow silence.
Increase opportunities for STT (Student Talking Time).
Use gestures to replace unnecessary teacher talk.
Allow students to finish their own sentences.
Make use of pairs and small groups to maximize opportunities for pupils to speak.
When possible, arrange seating so that students can all see each other and talk to
each other (in circles, squares or horseshoes rather than parallel rows). Try out
seating arrangements that allow the whole class to be the focus, rather than the
teacher.
Encourage interaction between students rather than only between student and teacher
and teacher and student. Get students to ask questions, give explanations to each
other rather than always to you. Use gestures and facial expressions to encourage
them to speak and listen to each other.
Encourage co-operation rather than competition: we learn from others and from
working through our own mistakes. The result of an activity may be less important
than how the pupils are getting there.
Allow students to become more responsible for their own progress. Put them in
situations where they need to make decisions for themselves.
If a student is speaking too quietly for you to hear, walk further away, rather than
closer to them. Encourage the quiet speaker to speak louder so that the others can
hear.

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Varying work patterns with multilevel classes

Varying work patterns can be a solution for managing large, multilevel classes. You
can plan to work with different groups of pupils at different times during the lesson. An
example of this was reported by Lewis (1998). In summary, four time slots can be used as
follows:
Organisation
whole class

Activity

Purposes

theme-based building on social, language input,

individual interests
fluency

class in two halves, one

with self-access
materials, the other with
the teacher

1. independent tasks
2. direct teaching

language practice, selfassessment;

preparation for independent work

as above, reversed

1. communicative tasks
2. independent work

focus on meaning
follow-up to direct teaching

Individual, pairs, or small choice of tasks

groups

one-to-one interaction with teacher

and other students
(after M. Lewis, 2002: 46)

In this model, the teacher has different roles at different times. For example:

answering or asking questions

up-front roles or supporting individuals
language informant or eliciting language
congratulating or encouraging individuals
designer of tasks or materials.
Problematic class management

Here are some common ways in which teachers unintentionally hinder or prevent
learning.
TTT (Teacher talking time). English teachers tend to believe that silence is horrible
and fill it with their own talk. However, the more a teacher talks, the less opportunity there is
for the learners. They need time to think, to prepare what they are going to say and how
they are going to say it. Allow them the time and the quiet they need. Dont feel the need to
fill every gap in a lesson, and explore the possibilities of silence.
Echoing. If you tend to echo what the students say, start to control this; the students
will get more talking time and they will start to listen to each other more. When you echo
they will learn that they dont need to listen to anyone except the teacher, because they
know the teacher will repeat everything.
Helping the students with sentence completion. Often the teacher is so
desperate for the students to say what she wants them to say that she predicts the words
the student will produce and often adds tails to sentence after sentence. This kind of doing
the hard work for the pupils is counter-productive for them. Pupils need to learn to finish off
their own sentences, using their own words and their own ideas.
Complicated and unclear instructions
Unplanned, unstructured instructions are extremely confusing to students. They
understand a small percentage of what the teacher is saying and guess only from one or
two words they catch what the teacher is trying to say. Work out what is essential for them
to know and tell them only that.
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Not checking understanding of instructions. Even the clearest instructions can

be difficult to understand for some students. So, after youve given them, check that they
have been understood. A simple way is to ask a student or two to repeat them back to you.
In this way you satisfy yourself that the task has been understood,
Asking Do you understand? When you want to check the pupils understanding, a
question such as Do you understand? is often useless. A Yes may mean I dont want to
seem stupid, or I dont want to waste the class time and not necessarily I think I
understand. The best way to get clear information about what students have taken in is to
get them to demonstrate their understanding, by giving examples, by repeating an
instruction, by explaining their interpretation of an idea. This provides real evidence rather
than possibly untrue information.
Fear of genuine feedback. In an active, forward-moving class the learners give
constantly their teacher feedback on what they have understood, what they think, what they
need, how they feel. Many teachers believe in the importance of open, honest feedback but
find it hard to get. This is partly due to classroom atmosphere, partly to the questions asked,
and mainly to the teachers attitude and response to feedback received. If the teacher sees
feedback as a threat to herself or her position she will avoid feedback, or will defend herself
against perceived attack when she gets feedback. If she can open up to pupil feedback
without self-defence, justifications or arguments, she will find that she can start to find out
what the students are really thinking, and that she can work on responding appropriately to
that.
Insufficient authority and over-politeness. Too much politeness (e.g. if you dont
mind, it would be nice if you could just... if you feel thats OK) can be a way in which
teachers undermine themselves. A teacher needs to be clear and say directly what needs
to be done. An imperative like Stop now, please, is a sign of natural authority.
Lack of confidence in self, learners, material, activity, etc. A common cause of
boredom in the classroom is when the material used is too difficult and hard to recognize or
too easy and unchallenging. A teacher should try to keep the level of challenge right, be
demanding and believe that her pupils can do more than they are aware of being able to do
and help them to do it.
Over-helping and over-organizing. When you give pupils a task to do in a group,
its often best to let them get on with it. A lot of teacher help, although well-intentioned can
be perceived as teacher interference and gets in the way of students working on their own.
As long as you are around they will look for guidance, control and help. When you are not
there they are forced to do the work themselves (and learning may happen!). For teachers it
can be a difficult lesson to learn but sometimes the students will do much better without
us, if only we have the courage to trust them.
Flying with the fastest. If you only listen to the first pupils who speak, its very easy
to get a false impression of how difficult or easy something is. You may find that the
strongest and fastest students dominate and you get little idea of how the majority of the
class finds the work. This can lead you to fly at the speed of the top two or three students
and to lose the rest completely. Make sure you get constant answers and feedback from
many students. Try directing questions at individuals and sometimes actively shh! the loud
ones or simply dont hear them.
Not really listening (hearing language problems but not the message). We can
easily become overconcerned about the accuracy of what is said and to fail to hear the
person behind the words. Teachers frequently fail to hear what the learners say. However,
the point in learning a foreign language is to be able to communicate and receive
messages, and the mechanical production of correct English should not blind us to the
message conveyed.
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Weak rapport creation of a poor working environment. If rapport seems to be a

problem, then plan work designed to focus on improving the relationships and interaction
with the class. Until the relationships are good within the class the learning is likely to be of
a lower quality so its worth spending time on this. Remember that a teacher should be
authentic, respectful and emphatic.

Summary
Effective lesson management needs careful planning. The cornerstone of effective
management is a clearly understood and consistently monitored set of rules and
procedures that prevents management problems in all stages of the lesson. These take into
account both the characteristics of the pupils and the physical environment of the
classroom. Lesson rules and procedures are the steps for the routines the pupils follow in
their learning activities.
While in whole class teacher-led activities opportunities for pupil participation are
limited, collaborative learning activities (pair work and group work) rely on interaction to
promote cooperative knowledge construction, increased motivation and interest.
What a teacher can hope for in the classroom can be summarised in these three
hopes for pupils and three for the teachers (Stevick 1996: 250):

pupils are involved

pupils feel comfortable while they are involved in intellectual activity
pupils listen to one another as well as to the teacher
teachers are in general control
teachers allow and encourage originality in students
teachers look relaxed and matter-of-fact..., giving information
appropriateness or correctness ... rather than criticising or praising.

about

...

Further Reading
Capel, Susan, Leask, Marilyn and Turner, Tony, 2009, Learning to Teach in the Secondary
School: A Companion to School Experience, Routledge
Harmer, Jeremy. 2001. The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman
Jacobs George M. and Hall, Stephen. 2002. Implementing Cooperative Learning in
Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., Methodology in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: CUP.
Lewis, M. 1998. Diverse levels and diverse goals in a community class. In J. C. Richards
(ed.) Case studies from second language classrooms. Alexandria, VA: TESOL
Lewis, M. 2002. Classroom management. In Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A.,
Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.
May, P. 1996. Exam classes. Oxford: OUP.
Oxford, R. L. 1990. Language learning strategies. What every teacher should know. New
York: Newbury House.
Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: CUP.
Rogers, B. 2002. Classroom Behaviour, London: Paul Chapman Publishing.
Scrivener, J. 1994. Learning Teaching, Heinemann.
Stevick, E. W. 1996 Memory, meaning and method. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.
Underwood, Mary .1987. Effective Class management. A Practical Approach, Longman.
Ur, Penny .1996. A Course in Language Teaching. Practice and Theory, Cambridge
University Press.
Wragg, E.C. and Brown, G. 2001. Questioning in the Secondary School, London: Rutledge
Falmer.
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Catedra de Limba i Literatura englez

EFL Methodology

LESSON PLANNING
The success with which a teacher conducts a lesson is often
thought to depend on the effectiveness with which the lesson was
planned. (Richards 1998: 103)
If the time you spend with the pupils in the classroom is to be used effectively, you
need to plan carefully each lesson, taking account of how pupils learn, the requirements of
the curriculum, the most appropriate techniques and resources available as well as the
evaluation of previous lessons. Three levels of planning are particularly relevant to work in
the classroom: the scheme of work, which outlines a long term activity, timetabling
(planning and sequencing a series of lessons), and the lesson plan for each individual
lesson.
Many of your decisions intended to promote learning in the classroom will be based
on your answer to the question: How do I plan my lessons to promote as much learning as
possible? Planning includes all the decisions you make before working directly with the
pupils. Most teachers have in advance some idea of any lesson they are about to teach: of
what they will try to cover and how. Fewer teachers prepare their lessons in detail.
However, you are encouraged to write a wide range of lesson plans. Even though you may
later on choose to plan your lessons more skeletally, the exercise of thorough and
disciplined planning will provide you with an insight into your teaching and will make your
lessons more effective.
During the planning phase, you will make decisions about goals, activities, resources,
timing, pupils grouping, and other aspects of the lesson.
Objectives
By the end of this lecture you will:

have a good idea of what needs to be included in a lesson plan

explain what is meant by the terms: aims, objectives, outcomes, progression,

differentiation

be able to formulate main and subsidiary lesson aims for various types of
lessons

distinguish aims from activities

use a suitable lesson plan layout.

Key Concepts: scheme of work, timetabling, pre-planning, planning, timetable

fit, assumed knowledge, anticipated problems, aims, objectives, outcomes,
progression, differentiation, timing, plan layout, lesson implementation, lesson plan
evaluation

Introduction to lesson planning

Planning is a key aspect of effective teaching. Lesson planning means the daily
decisions a teacher makes for the successful outcome of the lesson (Richards and
Renandya, 30). Before you teach a lesson it helps to be clear about what exactly you want
to do. A lot is going to happen on the spot in the class, but the better prepared you are, the

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more likely it is that you will be ready to cope with whatever happens. Lesson plans are
systematic records of the teachers thoughts about what will be covered in a lesson. A
lesson plan helps the teacher think about the lesson in advance and be prepared to resolve
problems, deal with difficulties, provide a structure for the lesson. According to Richards
(1998, 103), a lesson plan is like a map for the teacher to follow and a record of what has
been taught. If the content of the lesson is often decided elsewhere, how much you teach in
each lesson and how you teach it are the teachers own decision.
In this country, teachers are given clear guidelines about what to teach and the
goals for pupils learning within the subject. These goals are usually set out in government
produced documents, e.g. the National Curriculum, syllabuses, school documents and
syllabuses prepared by examination boards. You need to become familiar with the
curriculum requirements and the terminology relevant to your subject. However, before you
plan individual lessons, you need an overall picture of what learning is planned for the
pupils over a period of time. This overall plan is called a scheme of work and in this country
schemes of work cover a years work and the work for each term. Teachers engage in
yearly, term, unit, weekly, and daily lesson planning. Yearly and term planning usually
involve listing the objectives for a particular programme. A unit plan is a series of related
lessons around a specific theme, such as Going shopping (see also Timetabling).
Planning daily lessons is the result of a complex planning process that includes the yearly,
term, and unit plans. A daily lesson plan describes how you will organise the pupils
learning in order to attain specific objectives, in other words, how your teaching behaviour
will result in pupil learning.
The scheme of work, the timetable, and the lesson plan
There are three main stages to planning for pupil learning:
1. preparing an outline of the work to be covered over a period the scheme of
work;
2. planning and sequencing a whole series of lessons - timetabling;
3. planning each individual lesson the lesson plan.
While the formats for the schemes of work and lesson plans in use may differ and
the level of detail may vary between different approaches, the purpose is the same to
provide an outline of the work to be completed either over an extended period (scheme of
work planificarea anual sau trimestrial) or in the lesson (lesson plan) so that the
planned learning objectives and learning outcomes can be achieved. The best plans are the
ones which support you in your teaching so that your pupils learn what you intend them to
learn.
The scheme of work
This might also be called programme of work or unit of work. It is a long-term plan
for the pupils learning. It sets out the long-term plans for learning and thus covers an
extended period of time a year or a term. A scheme of work should be designed to build
on the learning which has gone before in order to ensure continuity of pupil learning.
Schemes of work should be designed to ensure that the knowledge, skills,
capabilities, understanding and attitudes of the pupils are developed over a particular
period in order to ensure progression in learning. Progression means the planned
development of knowledge, skills, understanding or attitudes over time.
Usually on school experience you are given or at least shown a scheme of work. In
putting this together, the classroom teacher has considered a number of questions:
1. What are you trying to achieve? (Aims for the scheme of work and learning

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objectives for particular lessons)

2. What has been taught before?
3. How much time is available to do this work?
4. What resources are available?
5. How is the work to be assessed?
6. (sometimes) How does this work fit with work pupils are doing in other subjects?
7. What is taught later?
8. Are there immovable slots? The scheme itself may be quite brief, but it will be
based on the above information.
Each of the areas in the scheme of work is discussed in turn:
1.
What are you trying to achieve? The aims of a scheme of work are general
statements about the learning that should take place over a period. Learning objectives are
specific statements which set out what pupils are expected to learn from a particular lesson
in a way that allows you to identify if learning has occurred. Learning objectives are
prepared for each lesson (see lesson planning).
2.
What has been taught before? This information should be available from
school documentation and from staff.
3.
How much time is available to do this work? The number and length of
lessons devoted to a topic are decided by the department or school in which you are
working, or by yourself. Dont forget that not all the lessons you expect to have are available
for teaching. Some time is taken up by such things as tests, revision, special events, etc.
4.
What resources are available? Resources include material resources as well
as human resources and what is available depends on the school where you are working.
You need to find out the procedures for using resources in the school and what is available.
You may find there are resources outside the school to draw upon parents, authorities,
private enterprises, etc.
5.
How is the work to be assessed? Teaching, learning and assessment are
interlinked. Most of the work you are doing with pupils is teacher assessed although some
is externally assessed. A key purpose of teacher assessment is formative, assessment for
learning, - to check and guide pupils progress in relation to learning objectives. Teacher
assessment may also be summative undertaken at the end of an extended period to
assess the level achieved. In any case, you should keep good records of the pupils
progress (homework, classwork, test results) in your own record book as well as providing
these in the form required by the school.
6.
How does this work fit in with work the pupils are doing in other subjects?
There are many areas of overlap where it is useful to discuss pupils work with other
colleagues, for instance the teachers of Romanian or other foreign language teachers.
7.
What is to be taught later? Progression in pupil learning has to be planned
and a scheme of work is drawn up for this purpose. From the scheme of work you know
what work is to come and the contribution to pupil learning that each lesson is to make.
8.
The immovable slots may filled up by events organised by the school, such as
tests, which may be given to you by the schools administration.

Timetabling
Timetabling involves planning and sequencing a series of lessons. The fundamental
questions that you need to answer are:

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What will I teach? What is the syllabus?

How will the separate items be sequenced (what is the timetable)?

You need to consider a few more questions when you sequence a series of lessons.
Here are some:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

How far ahead do I plan (in terms of lesson hours)?

What do I need to include in the timetable?
What factors do I need to consider when timetabling?
How do I see the role of the textbook in timetabling?
What problems can I anticipate and what solutions?

The syllabus provides a longer term overview. It lists the contents of a course and
puts the separate items in an order. In Romania there is a national syllabus for each
subject, but in other parts of the world the syllabus is given by the coursebook or decided
by the teacher.
Having a syllabus can be of great help as it sets out clearly what you as a teacher
are expected to cover with your class. It can be a burden too, if it is unrealistic for your
students in terms of what they need or are likely to achieve within a certain time.
Timetabling in practice
The day-to-day, weekto week decisions about how to interpret a syllabus into a
series of lessons are usually wholly or partly the teachers job. This process typically
involves you looking at the school syllabus or/and coursebook contents page and trying to
map out how you will cover the content in the time that is available, selecting items from the
syllabus and writing them into the appropriate spaces on a plan. Timetables are usually
written out in advance (at the beginning of the term). In most schools a head of the
department or school principal may provide you with a timetable format.
A time table enables other teachers to understand what work is being done in your
class. The information it provides may be especially important if another teacher shares
your class with you or takes over from you. The timetable should give others a clear idea of
what work was planned for a particular lesson and also show how that fits into the overall
shape of the week and the course.
Here are some practical guidelines for timetabling:
1. Analyse the contents of the textbook and fill in an analysis sheet.
2. Review and note down separately:
a) links with previous units work;
b) your perceptions of the pupils needs (in terms of language needs, skills, recycling
and remedial work).
3. Take a look at the next unit.
4. Using the information from 1 and 2 decide:
a) what to teach, and what to omit;
b) which material is useable for what (input and practice, skills and freer practice,
warmers and homework, etc.);
c) where you need to supplement with other material.
5.
Allocate: a) input and skills, paying attention to the balance within and
between lessons; b) relevant bits of textbook; c) homework (including balance and variety).
6. Review and make changes as appropriate. Think about when you teach

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vocabulary and pronunciation, what and how often you recycle, when you introduce new
language receptively for later activation, when you set grammar preparation homework, etc.

Lesson Planning
Although planning is sometimes seen as a chore, lesson planning has enormous
advantages for both pupils and teachers. Here are a few of the (internal) advantages a
teacher may have from planning:

it means anticipation, coherence, balance and clarity of purpose

it helps you learn the subject matter better
it makes lesson execution easier
it makes the lesson run smoothly
it allows for flexibility in lesson execution
it saves time in the long run
it looks professional
it makes you understand that some things are more important than others
it helps you teach more confidently
it makes self-appraisal much easier.

The pupils will benefit from the decisions made by the teacher after considering their
backgrounds, interests, learning styles and abilities. The result of these decisions will be a
coherent, varied, well-targeted and well-shaped lesson, which will be appreciated by
your pupils.
Moreover, there are external reasons for planning lessons: teachers may be asked
to do this by the school principal or a supervisor or to guide a substitute teacher. A lesson
plan will also be a guide to anybody observing your teaching or reading about your
lessons:

A lesson plan will help your observer or reader see how you have prepared for your
lesson and the factors you have taken into consideration.
A lesson plan makes the task of commenting upon lessons much easier. It explains
why you are doing something at a particular point in a lesson, and it may locate and
identify any problems.
A lesson plan is something concrete that can be referred to. This is useful either in
feedback with your inspector, observer and tutor or for your reader.
Think first!
What elements do you need to know before starting to plan for
an English lesson?

The lesson plan provides an outline of one lesson within a scheme of work. In
planning a lesson, you are working out the detail required to teach one aspect of the
scheme of work.
The following information is required to plan effectively:

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1.
Overall aim(s) of the scheme of work and the specific learning objectives of
the lesson. Defining learning objectives and associated learning outcomes which clarify
exactly what learning you hope will take place is a crucial skill for the effective teacher.
These help you to be clear about exactly what pupils should be achieving and help the
pupils understand what they should be doing. However, drawing up effective objectives and
specifying and planning for outcomes require considerable thought. Listing learning
objectives introduced by the phrase By the end of this lesson, pupils will be able to
may help you to devise clear goals and to understand the difference between aims (general
statements), learning objectives (statements about specific goals, e.g. demonstrate an
understanding of an idiom) and learning outcomes (specific lesson outputs, e.g. the
accurate completion of an exercise with idioms).
Words that help you be precise are those such as state, describe, list, identify,
prioritise, solve, demonstrate and understanding of. These words force you to write
statements which can be tested. If you think your learning objectives are vague, ask
yourself whether objectives can be measured and if the learning outcomes make it clear
what the pupils must do to achieve the objectives. When you tell the pupils what learning
outcomes are expected from the lesson so they understand what is expected of them?
Objectives may be related to knowledge, concepts, skills, behaviours and attitudes.
2.
Range of abilities of the pupils. A teacher needs to incorporate differentiation
into planning. This refers to the need to consider pupils individual abilities when work is
planned so that both the brightest pupils and those with lesser ability are challenged and
extended by the work. Differentiation can be achieved, for example, by outcome, i.e.
different types or qualities of work may be produced, or by task, i.e. different tasks may be
set for pupils of different abilities, or by teacher input.
Also, ask yourself whether they will enjoy the lesson and how they will benefit from
it. Plan for your pupils. If you do not know much about the class, try to find out as much as
possible about them before you decide what to teach. Bear in mind their level of language,
their background, their motivation and their learning styles.
3.
Time available. In all lesson plans, you need to mention the (anticipated) time
spent on each activity, so that, during the lesson, you can see easily if it is necessary to
adapt the original plan to fit the time available.
4.
Resources available (texts, tapes, pictures, exercises, role-cards, etc.). Before
planning, check what resources are available and how they can be reserved.
5.
Classroom management (what you will say, how the seating will be arranged,
how much time each stage will take, etc.). This should be suitable to the topic and subject.
6.
Teaching strategies and the learning situations. These should be set up as
appropriate to the work being covered. Modelling, explaining and questioning are three key
skills which you should work to improve. It is a good idea to write out questions in advance
which you may want to use to test the pupils grasp of the topic and which develop thinking.
Phrasing appropriate questions is a key skill for a teacher.
7.
Assessment methods. Decide which ones to use in order to know whether
your learning objectives have been achieved.
8.
What did the pupils know now? As your experience of the curriculum and of
pupils learning develops, you will find it easier to answer this question. You need to
consider what has been taught before as well as the experience outside school which
pupils might have had. It may be appropriate to do some form of testing or analysis of
knowledge, skills, attitudes and understanding or to have a discussion with pupils to
discover their prior experience and attitudes to the work in question. As a student teacher
you should seek advice from the staff who normally teach your classes.
Your lesson plan will reflect many of the important features of your lesson:
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your understanding of aims (main and subsidiary)

your awareness of the language
your ability to anticipate problems
the balance and variety of activities in the lesson
the interaction patterns used
whether or not whole stages of the lesson are missing
the allocation of time to particular activities
Teachers knowledge of the pupils
Teachers knowledge of the syllabus

Activities

Language
skills

Language
type

Subject and
content

Practical realities

The plan
Fig. 3.1 Lesson Planning
(after Harmer, J., 2001, The Practice of English Language Teaching, p. 310)

We therefore need to look at the construction of a lesson and at writing lesson plans
and consider what they should contain.

Writing a lesson plan

The lesson plan provides an outline of one lesson within a scheme of work. In
planning a lesson, you are working out the detail required to teach one aspect of the
scheme of work. Even though a lesson may have already been planned by the textbook
writer, the teacher still needs to relate that lesson to the needs of the specific class s/he
teaches, to the needs, wants, problems and interests of the pupils. During this process of
adaptation, the teacher transforms the content of the lesson and makes decisions that will
make the lesson successful. Not all these decisions will be included in the written lesson
plan. Many experienced teachers teach successful lessons based on brief notes or mental
plans. However, student teachers are expected to produce a detailed lesson plan for each
lesson taught, as an awareness-raising tool. Requiring you to sit down and think through
your aims and procedure very carefully may help you to become clearer about what works
and why. A lesson plan turns a potential lesson (such as a textbook lesson) into the basis
for an engaging and effective lesson. A lesson plan results from a number of thinking
processes and involves making decisions about what topics to study, what the pupils
should know or be able to do by the end of the lesson, what examples are needed, what
strategies can be used and how learning will be assessed.
The dominant model of lesson planning is Tylers rational-linear framework (1949).
This model has four sequential steps: (1) specify objectives; (2) select learning activities; (3)

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organise learning activities; (4) specify methods of evaluation.

Harmer (2001) says that in your lesson plan you will need to include four main
elements: activities, skills, language and content:

Decide what the pupils will be doing in the classroom and how they will be grouped.
Think what kind of activity would fit them at any particular point in the lesson. Vary
and balance the activities so that each pupil gets a chance of finding the lesson
engaging and motivating.
Decide which language skill(s) you need to develop in that lesson. Your choice may be
limited by the syllabus or the textbook. However, you still need to plan how the pupils
will work on the respective skill(s) and what sub-skills you want to develop.
Decide what language (e.g. lexical items, grammar structures) you need to introduce
and practise.

The key question, probably, is What are the aims of the lesson? If you can answer
this if you can be clear about what you hope your learners will have achieved by the end
of the lesson then perhaps the other questions will become easier to answer.
Starting from the textbook, select the content. Keep in mind that the textbook is just
a guide and that you are free to replace what is given in the textbook with something else.
You are, after all, the class teacher who knows the pupils personally and can predict which
topics will be found interesting and which boring. Remember however, that the most
interesting topic will become boring if the task set for the pupils is uninteresting and that, on
the other hand, topics that are not particularly interesting can become very successful if you
assign a task that your pupils find engaging.
Harmer (1991) also includes the following elements in a lesson plan:
a.
b.
c.
d.

description of the class

recent work
objectives
contents (context, activity and class organisation, aids, language, possible
problems)
e. additional possibilities.
Lesson planning involves decisions about the pedagogical dimensions of the lesson,
but also decisions about the management of the class during the lesson: eliciting pupils
attention, maintaining their engagement in the lesson, organising their interaction,
monitoring their learning.
Preliminary information
A lesson plan normally contains preliminary information under several headings.
Think first!
What preliminary information do you think is usually introduced
at the beginning of a lesson plan?

The preliminary information sheet is usually about 1 or 2 pages:

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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Timetable fit
Level
Time
Class profile
Aims (main and subsidiary)
Assumed knowledge and anticipated problems
Materials and aids

1. Timetable fit. This shows how your lesson fits into a sequence of lessons. Here
you need to show how this lesson relates to other lessons that have gone before and those
that will follow. State briefly what textbook you are using with the class, the work relevant to
the lesson that you have covered and give some indication of how the lesson will be
consolidated in future lessons.
2. Level. Here you state the level of the class: Beginner, Elementary, Lower or Upper
Intermediate, Advanced, or Proficient and the year of study.
3. Time. The usual length of a lesson is about 50 minutes.
4. Class profile. Make some brief general comments about the class as a whole
(atmosphere, etc) and mention any relevant points about individual students (age, particular
strengths or weaknesses, etc). This information is particularly useful if your reader, tutor or
inspector has not seen your lesson.
5. Aims (main aim/objective and subsidiary aims). For every lesson you teach,
and for each activity within that lesson, it is useful to be able to state what the aims are. An
aim is the description of a learning outcome, the destination where you want to take your
pupils (not the journey itself). It is important, therefore, to separate mentally the following
from the aims of the lesson:
(a) the material you use;
(b) the activities that will be done;
(c) the teaching point (the language skills or systems that the lesson will work on);
(d) the topics or contexts that will be used;
You cannot say, for instance, that your aim is to do a role-play since this is an
activity, not an aim. You need to specify what your aim for the activity (subsidiary aim) is
(e.g. to consolidate vocabulary related to previous work in class or to recycle expressing
polite refusals, or to develop fluency in etc.)
In the following list of headings, say which is an aim and which is
an activity.
a)
Develop the scan reading skill;
b)
Dialogue building;
c)
Headway p. 36;
d)
Grammar revision: conditional clauses;
e)
Jigsaw reading;
f)
Further practice of /s/ vs. /z/ and /iz/ in plural endings;
g)
Introduction of the language of disagreeing;
h)
Warmer;
i)
Elicit use of Present Perfect.
6. Assumed knowledge and anticipated problems. Thinking about your pupils
when you are planning is crucial. The assumptions and anticipated problems are the

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specific things, relevant to the aims of your lesson, which you anticipate your pupils may
either find easy or have problems with. This is an important part of your lesson plan since it
shows your ability to analyse language.
Specify briefly what relevant language you think your pupils already know
(vocabulary, structures, etc). If you intend to do some skill work, state the level of ability
your pupils have with that skill.
It is more difficult to make assumptions about levels of skill than about levels of
knowledge. If you have recently taken over a class, then you may need to test out the
pupils skills before you can make any safe assumptions.
Analyse anticipated problems under the following headings on your lesson plan: a)
meaning, b) form, c) phonology, and d) level of skill (e.g. present level of your pupils ability
in coping with listening tasks). Occasionally, you may need to add a fifth heading, e) sociocultural problems.
Here are some example statements of assumptions and anticipated problems:

The pupils have good gist listening skills but are not very used to listening to
loudspeaker announcements.
The pupils have come across most of the vocabulary before, but only in their reading.
The pupils are familiar with the topic area; it was the subject of a discussion in a
previous lesson.
The pupils have good higher processing skills but tend to make mistakes in
interpreting grammatical discourse markers.

Alternatively, you can analyse separately the pupils assumed knowledge and the
problems you anticipate when teaching that lesson.
7. Materials and aids. List any materials, references, tapes, pictures, board
drawings, diagrams, handouts, realia, etc. you intend to use. State also if the material is
your own or where you took it from (as this will be very useful when you teach the same
lesson again.)
Formulating aims
You are expected to offer a clear statement of aims before you start teaching a
lesson. This is a useful training discipline, forcing you to concentrate on deciding what
activities and procedures are most likely to lead to specific outcomes for the learners. This
is probably the most important part of your lesson plan since your lesson will ultimately be
judged in terms of your aims.
It is essential that the lesson aims are realistic, achievable, clearly specified and
directed towards an outcome that can be measured. Clear, well-written aims are the first
step in daily lesson planning. They state precisely what you want your pupils to learn; they
also help you guide the selection of the activities, the overall lesson focus and direction.
They also help you evaluate what the pupils have learned at the end of the lesson. If you
are unsure about the aims of your lesson, use this maxim: What is it that my pupils should
be able to do by the end of the lesson that they couldnt do at the beginning?
The most important aim concerns intended student achievements: things that they
will have learned by the end of the lesson. You can deal with aims under two headings:
main/major and subsidiary. In a lesson of 50 minutes you will normally have two or three
main aims. These should encapsulate what the lesson is basically about. Aims refer to
either language development or skills improvement. In an English lesson, languageoriented aims may be for instance the introduction and controlled oral practice of a certain
grammar structure, while a skill-oriented aim may be to improve the pupils listening skill or

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10

to increase the pupils confidence and ability to scan a text. Subsidiary aims will be derived
from the main aims (e.g. to give the pupils practice in selective listening, in anticipating
content, and in using guessing strategies to overcome lexical difficulties).
In an English class, the lesson aims will be mainly cognitive and affective. Generally
speaking, the cognitive aims are statements that describe the knowledge that the pupils
are expected to acquire or construct. Use in the formulation of these aims verbs like:
remember, understand, apply, analyse, evaluate and create. Apply these verbs to the four
main dimensions of knowledge: factual, conceptual, procedural and metacognitive, as you
will most probably want your pupils to do more than remember facts. In the 21st century,
your pupils will expect thinking, decision making and problem solving to be increasingly
emphasised in the classroom.
A number of aims that fit into the affective domain, which focus on attitudes, values
and on the development of the pupils personal and emotional growth, are also
recommended. Although much of the focus in the affective domain is implicit, sometimes
we need to concentrate on it deliberately. For example, in a lesson with reference to
multiculturalism, your aim may be to develop your pupils awareness of and appreciation of
another cultures values and customs. Remember that attitudes, values and emotions
strongly affect learning, and when you plan and teach a lesson, you should keep in mind
factors like willingness to listen, open-mindedness, commitment to values and involvement.
If you have a clear objective (main aim) for a lesson, you can bear this in mind all the
way through the class. Knowing where you are going enables you to make moment-bymoment decisions about different paths or options to take en route, while keeping the main
objective always clearly in front of you. Good lesson planning, and especially good
specifying of objectives does not restrict you, but in clarifying the end point you intend to
teach, sets you free to go towards that point in the most appropriate ways in class.
Remember that the lesson has limited aims (2 3), and that you shouldnt try to achieve too
much.
Is teaching the present perfect a realistic aim for a lesson? How
about doing a listening exercise?

Try to formulate aims that are learner-centred, such as to enable the pupils to use
the present perfect with a greater degree of accuracy.
Distinguish between teaching aims and learning aims. You may have aims for
yourself in the lesson (teaching aims), such as to improve the clarity of my instructions.
These should be expressed in a separate section.
The following headings can help you specify aims for a reading or listening lesson:
text type, style and register, reading or listening style, specific language aim, specific skills
aim, and so on. Here are some examples of lesson aims:

Text type, style and register:

To provide practice in reading magazine articles in informal style.
To present an ESP (medical) journal article, with formal style and marked register.
To provide practice in listening to loudspeaker announcements.
To provide practice in listening to formal speeches.

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11

Reading or listening style:

To test pupils intensive reading abilities
To provide practice in skim listening

Specific language aims

To provide receptive practice of some discourse connectors (e.g. however,
although, though)
To present comment segments introduced by which (e.g. I got there early,
which is why I had to wait so long, etc.)

Specific skills aim

To help pupils use their background knowledge to make correct inferences
To present a way of dealing with unfamiliar words by breaking them down into
parts

It is often desirable to kill two or more birds with one stone and set aims, thus:

To provide practice in reading magazine articles in informal style and to help the
pupils use background knowledge to make correct inferences.
To present discourse linkers such as however, although, though.
How could you formulate the above aims in a more learnercentred way?

The language you use for stating aims is important. Action verbs are typically used
to identify the desired pupil behaviour. Vague verbs such as understand, appreciate, enjoy
or learn are avoided because these situations are difficult to quantify. Action verbs such as
identify, present, describe, explain, demonstrate, list, contrast or debate are clearer and the
situations easier to understand and evaluate. The best-known source for useful action
verbs is Blooms Taxonomy of Thinking Processes. Here are a few verbs taken from
Blooms taxonomy, together with the cognitive process involved:
Knowledge: tell, list, define, name, identify, state, remember, repeat;
Comprehension/understanding: transform, change, restate, describe, explain,
review, paraphrase, relate, generalise, infer;
Application: apply, practice, employ, use, demonstrate, illustrate, show, report;
Analysis: analyse, distinguish, examine, compare, contrast, survey, investigate,
separate, categorize, classify, organise;
Synthesis: compose, construct, design, modify, imagine, produce, propose
Evaluation: judge, decide, select, evaluate, critique, debate, verify, recommend,
assess.

Procedure
After writing
procedures that you
this stage you need
words, the shape of
1994):

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the preliminary information, you must decide the activities and

will use to ensure the successful attainment of the aims. Therefore, at
to think through the purposes and structures of the activities, in other
the lesson. A generic lesson plan has five phases (Shrum and Glisan

12

1. Perspective or opening. The teacher asks the pupils what was the previous activity
(what was previously learned)? Then the teacher gives a preview of the new lesson.
2. Stimulation. This phase prepares the pupils for the new activity. The teacher (a) poses
a question to get the pupils thinking about the coming activity; (b) helps the pupils to
relate the activity to their lives; (c) begins with an attention grabber: an anecdote, a
picture, or a song; and (d) uses the response to the attention grabber as a lead into the
activity.
3. Instruction/participation. This phase involves the teacher in presenting the activity,
checking for pupils understanding and encouraging active pupil involvement. Interaction
can be stimulated by pair and/or group work.
4. Closure. The teacher asks what the pupils have learned by asking questions such as
What did you learn? how do you feel about these activities? The teacher then gives a
preview about the possibilities for future lessons.
5. Follow-up. The teacher uses other activities to reinforce some concepts and even
introduce some new ones. The teacher gives the pupils opportunities to do independent
work and can set certain activities or tasks taken from the lesson as homework.
Of course, teachers can have variations on this generic model. As pupils gain
competence, they can take on a larger role in choosing the content and the structure of the
lesson. On the other hand, language lessons may be different from other lessons because
the concepts may need to be reinforced time and again using various procedures.
If the question What do you want the pupils to learn and why? needs to be
addressed before reaching the procedure part of the lesson plan, the following questions,
suggested by Farrell (in Richards and Renandya, 34) may be useful for you to answer
before starting to write the procedure part of the lesson plan:

Are all the tasks necessary worth doing and at the right level?
What materials, aids, will you use, why and when?
What type of interaction will you encourage pair work or group work and why?
What instructions will you have to give and how will you give them (written, oral)? What
questions will you ask?
How will you monitor pupil understanding during different stages of the lesson?

A good lesson plan should be clear and logical, and make the lesson
reconstructable (i.e. someone else should be able to teach it following your lesson plan).
You do not need to write a word-for-word script, but you need more than brief notes that
only you understand.
When teaching the lesson, you may wish to have a simpler working document for
yourself, which shows major stages, concept questions, types of interaction, timing, etc.
Some teachers like to use a series of cards that carry instructions and contain the main
points of a particular stage so that they can easily refer to them during the lesson.
Show how you will convey meaning and check understanding. Write concept
questions on your lesson plan, with the answers you expect. Remember that you may also
need to ask questions about style, register, connotation, etc. All this will demonstrate that
you have analysed the language you are teaching. On the lesson plan, show the form
clearly.
Where you anticipate pronunciation problems, show awareness of sounds, stress
and intonation. On the lesson plan, give the phonetic transcription of problematic words or
chunks of language and mark stress and intonation patterns. When teaching vocabulary,

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13

mark word stress on lexical items.

These will make clear why you are doing something at a particular point in your
lesson. They will also help your observer, tutor, inspector or reader to assess the
effectiveness of any part of the lesson and help you to clarify the distinction between aims
and activities.
In the list below, the left-hand column contains subsidiary aims which
were written by various teachers, but which may deserve closer scrutiny.
Analyse these aims and write your own comments in the right-hand
column.
Aims
Your Comments
To develop the listening
skill
To practise the skill of
listening for detailed
information.
To practise gist listening.
To practise reading for
understanding.
To practise skimming a
long written text.
To practise scanning for
specific information

Showing the type of interaction for each stage and activity (e.g. T - S, S - S, in
groups, in pairs, etc.), will help you to assess if there is sufficient variety of focus in the
lesson.
Show the approximate amount of time you expect to spend on each stage or activity
in the lesson. Be realistic about this. A lot will depend on your experience and judgement.
Sometimes the timing can go wrong, so dont be afraid of being flexible in the lesson.
Timing
The time you give to particular stages or activities is often a reflection of what you
perceive to be important in the lesson, so you will need to make appropriate decisions
about timing. Remember to allow for thinking time and keep in mind that the pupils
concentration span on any activity is only about 20 - 30 minutes.
Giving an approximate timing can also help you to limit your aims, and it can help
you to learn from experience how long some kinds of activities can take. If you have timing
problems with lessons, this may be due to several causes:

poor understanding of aims

confusion over what the main aims and subsidiary aims are
unanticipated problems due to insufficient language analysis
different learning rates among pupils
the pupils unfamiliarity with the concepts used
poor language grading
insufficient or confusing instructions
slow pace of the lesson, etc.
One possible solution to timing problems is to build flexible slots into the lesson

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14

plan, which can be used or dropped as necessary.

Include brief but clear class management instructions, e.g. for organising pair work,
group work, for the use of the textbook, etc.
Board work
Plan board work before the lesson so that it is clearly organised and legible. Show on
your lesson plan how you will make use of the board during the lesson. Board work will
include titles, rules, diagrams, example sentences, phonological features, i.e. anything that
the pupils will write down as a record of the lesson.
Remember to go round the classroom and check whether the pupils are copying
down accurately. Alternatively, a well designed handout (e.g. a grammar reference
handout) can be given to save time in the lesson. Board work can also be prepared before
the lesson on OHP transparencies.
Skills work
Show how you will prepare and interest the pupils in these activities. For instance,
say what questions you prepared to elicit contributions. Include pre-set questions for
reading or listening tasks and their expected answers. For listening activities, indicate the
number of times you intend to play the tape.
Homework
Make sure the homework task you set is meant to consolidate what has been
covered in the lesson and to check if learning has taken place.
To sum up the features of good lesson plan, this should have:

clearly specified aims

evidence of language analysis
logical staging of the lesson
clear and easy to read procedure.

The stages of the lesson should be clearly indicated on the plan. Being able to refer
to stages numerically makes the plan easier to read (e.g. 1.a, 3.b, etc.). The ending and
beginning of stages should also be made clear to the pupils during the lesson.

A final check of the lesson plan

Having done all the above, spend some time thinking:

Is there sufficient variety? Look at the activities, focus, pace and interaction patterns.
Could the pupils be more involved at each stage?
What are the pupils asked to contribute at each stage? What are the pupils required
to do?
What is your role at each stage (corrector, monitor, resource, participant)?

Layout of lesson plans

The layout style you adopt for the Procedure part of the lesson plan is a question of
individual taste. Here are some tips:
Give a heading to each stage. This will help you to plan logically staged lessons and
make it clear how the stages of the lesson develop, e.g.:

presenting new language

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15

getting across meaning

highlighting form and pronunciation
controlled practice
less controlled practice
freer practice / personalisation / creative stage

The heading also helps to ensure that important stages of the lesson are not left out
and that appropriate materials are prepared for the practice stages.
Your lesson plan layout can be linear or tabular (arranged in the form of a table).
Linear plans are written as any normal text would be, with headings and sub-headings.
If you choose to use a tabular layout, here are two versions of what it may look like:
Aims

Time

Interaction
Patterns

Aids

Teacher
activity

Pupil
Activity

And the second one:

Step/
Stage
1

Time
510
mins

Tasks (teacher)
Opening: introduction
to the topic sport. T
activates schema for
sport.

Tasks
(pupils)
Listen

T asks Ss to help her

write down as many
different kinds of sport
on the board within 3
minutes.

Ss call out the

answer to the
question as the
T writes the
answers on the
board.

T asks Ss to rank their

favourite sports in
order of importance

T writes the
answers.

Inter
action
T
Ss

Aims
(purpose)
Arouse interest.
Activate schema
for sport.

(from Farrell, 36)

The advantage of the tabular layout is that you have to think about what needs to
be written in each of the columns for each stage of the lesson. It is also easy to see if the
lesson is too teacher-centred. However, some people may find this layout difficult to follow.
Compromise layouts can also work quite well. Here is one format:
Time

Teacher activity

Pupil activity

0 5 min Class enter and settle

5
min

Coats and bags put

away

10 Homework discussed / recap of

work so far / task set / new work
explained

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Notes /
equipment
needed

10 25 Teacher supports groups /

min
individuals

Pupils work in groups to

carry out the task

Evaluation: Were objectives achieved? What went well? What needs to be

addressed next time? How are individuals responding?
(from Capel, Leask and Turner, 2009: 84)

Here is a second one:

Stage

Procedure

Aim

Practice

1. Each pupil writes down three ways in

which s/he thinks they are different from
10 20
their partners. S/he does not show the
minutes
partner what s/he has written.
2. Both pupils tell each other about the
Pair work
differences and talk about where they
were right or wrong, then they talk about
the similarities.

To give pupils written and

spoken practice in
expressing their opinions,
in agreeing and
disagreeing.
To encourage pupils to get
to know someone better.

(from Klippel F., Keep Talking, CUP, 1991)

This layout has several advantages. The name of the stage, the time and type of
interaction all fit into the Stage column, and there is plenty of space left for detail in the
Procedure column. Also, there is space in the Aim column to indicate the aim of particular
stages and activities in the lesson. The lesson plan is also easy to follow for your tutor,
reader, observer or inspector.

Implementing the lesson plan

Implementing the lesson plan is the most important and the most difficult phase of
the planning cycle as the reality of the class often takes over. Unplanned events may occur
which may hinder you from following the plan. After having spent so much time to produce
the lesson plan, you will feel inclined to follow it closely, for fear of failing to achieve any of
your stated aims. However, you should feel free to diverge from it when you have to deal
with any unanticipated events or difficulties that you may encounter. It is often the case that
you need to adjust or even change the original plan when the lesson is not going well. This
will show your willingness to respond to the classroom situation as it develops, and you will
be given credit for doing this.
Think first!
What reasons may teachers have to deviate from their lesson
plans?

It is not a good idea to stick to your lesson plan, regardless of what happens in the
classroom. Remember that the original plan was designed with specific intentions in mind
and based on your diagnosis of the learning needs of the pupils. However, you may need to

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make adjustments to the lesson at the implementation stage. Thomas Farrell (in Richards
and Renandya, 2002: 34) suggests there are two broad reasons for adjustments at the
implementation stage: (a) the lesson is going badly and the plan may not be likely to
produce the desired outcomes, and (b) something unexpected happens during an early part
of the lesson that necessitates improvisation (for instance interruptions due to loud noises,
visits, etc.).

Sometimes teachers respond to issues raised by the pupils that they perceive to be
relevant for the other pupils;
They may decide to discuss some unplanned event because they appreciate it to be
timely for the class;
They may change the procedure as a means of promoting the progress of the lesson;
They may depart from the original plan when they understand they havent
accommodated the pupils learning styles;
They may eliminate some steps in the lesson plans in order to promote pupil
involvement, especially if the pupils are not responding;
They may change the lesson plan to encourage quiet pupils to participate more and to
keep the more active students from dominating the class time.

If the lesson is going badly or not as planned, and immediate adjustments or

improvisations are necessary, a student teacher may not be able to either recognise there
is a problem, diagnose it, or think out the necessary adjustments quickly. This kind of
knowledge is built up with experience.
However, never be afraid to go back and clarify, reintroduce, check concepts again,
or stop the class and repeat your instructions. As a general rule: prepare thoroughly, but in
class, teach the learners, not the plan. This means that you should be prepared to
respond to the learners and adapt what you have planned as you go, even to the extent of
throwing the plan away if appropriate. The execution of a lesson involves a whole series of
decisions that you are called to make as the lesson progresses. You need to show
sensitivity to pupils and their difficulties and an ability to respond appropriately.
A carefully thought out plan enables you to think logically through the content of the
lesson before the lesson and prepare material and aids. It then informs your teaching in
class whether you follow it completely or not. However, a teacher who is mainly
concerned with following a lesson plan to the letter is unlikely to be responding to what is
actually happening in class. On the other hand, if you do not follow your lesson plan, be
prepared to explain afterwards why you decided to diverge from it. Do not be afraid to show
flexibility, confidence and independence.
When implementing the lesson plan, try to monitor two important issues: variety and
pace. Variety of delivery and variety of activities will keep your pupils interested. Variety is
ensured not only by the activities themselves but also by changes in their tempo (from fast
to slow). The patterns of interaction also provide variety: individual tasks, pair work, group
work, whole class interaction. The level of difficulty of the activities (from easy to more
demanding) also contributes to variety and pupil involvement. Penny Ur (1996) suggests
that the harder activities should be placed earlier in the lesson and the quieter before the
lively ones.
Pace is linked to the speed at which the activities progress, and lesson timing. In
order for you to develop a sense of pace, Brown (1994) suggests a few guidelines:
1. Activities should not be too long or too short;
2. Various techniques for delivering the activities should flow together;
3. There should be clear transitions between each activity.

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Avoid racing through different activities just because they have been written in the
lesson plan and always remember that you work for the benefit of the pupils.

Evaluating the plan

Although experienced teachers already have a sense of what goes on well and what
does not while they are teaching, after having implemented the lesson, everyone must
evaluate the success or the failure of a lesson. Ur (1996) says that it is important to think
after teaching a lesson and ask whether it was a good one or not, and why (p. 219). This
form of reflection is crucial for self-development. Even if success and failure are relative
terms, without evaluation the teacher has no way of assessing the success of the students
or the adjustments that need to be made. Evaluation is thus important as it provides the
opportunity to reflect on what has gone on in the lesson regarding the aims of the lesson,
the success of the tasks, the appropriateness of the materials and, consequently, what
changes need to be made in future lessons.
The main criterion of evaluation (Ur, 1996: 220) is pupil learning. Even though it is
difficult to judge how much learning has taken place, we can still make a good guess based
on our knowledge of the class, the type of activities the class was engaged in or on some
informal test activities that provide feedback on learning. Ur also offers (ibidem) a few
criteria for evaluating lesson effectiveness:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

The class seemed to be learning the material well;

The learners were engaging with the foreign language throughout;
The learners were attentive all the time;
The learners enjoyed the lesson and were motivated;
The learners were active all throughout.

A few questions may also be helpful for you to reflect on after conducting a lesson
Farell, 35):

What do you think the pupils actually learned?

What tasks were most successful? Least successful? Why?
Did you finish the lesson on time?
What changes (if any) will you make in your teaching and why (not)?

Another source of feedback on the lesson success is the pupils themselves. You can
ask them questions at the end of the class, avoiding judgemental questions such as Did
you enjoy the lesson and telling them that you need assistance with future lesson planning.
Such questions can be:

What do you think todays lesson was about?

What part was easy?
What part was difficult?
What changes would you suggest the teacher make?

To conclude, carefully thought-out lesson plans are likely to result in more efficient
use of instructional time and more successful teaching and learning opportunities.
Remember also that teachers make choices before, during and after each lesson.

Conclusions
Planning lessons is an operation that needs to take place before teaching can be

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effective, and it is entirely the teachers responsibility. However, as teachers have different
styles of teaching, their style of planning will also be different. You must always allow
yourself flexibility to plan your own way, keeping in mind the yearly, term and unit plans.
Also, allow yourself the flexibility of diverging from the lesson plan in response to the
actuality of the classroom, in order to maximise teaching and learning opportunities. And
yet, clearly thought-out lesson plans will maintain the attention of the students and increase
the likelihood that they will be interested in the lesson. A clear plan will also maximise time
and minimise confusion of what is expected of the students, thus making classroom
management easier (Farrell, idem, 37).
Here are some of the principles that a teacher should follow in planning:

Take your pupils from dependence to independence.

Build in your lesson plan, backward and forward links (revision, consolidation, skills
work, presentation, practice, etc.)
Formulate aims clearly.
Be realistic: do not attempt to cover more than you can in the time you have. Limit your
aims.
Provide balance of input, skills work, controlled / freer / free practice activities.
Provide variety of pace, focus, activity, intensity, interaction patterns.
Ensure logical progression in the staging of activities.
Make the plan layout clear and easily accessible.
Provide enough detail to make the lesson reconstructable
Include in the lesson ways of checking that your pupils have understood or can produce
something of what you have introduced or practised.

Further Reading
Capel, Susan, Leask, Marilyn and Turner, Tony, 2009, Learning to Teach in the Secondary
School: A Companion to School Experience, Routledge
Brown H. D., 1994. Teaching by Principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents
Harmer, J., 2001. The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman
Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: CUP.
Scrivener, J. 1994. Learning Teaching. Heinemann.
Ur, Penny. 1996. A course in language teaching: Practice and Theory. Cambridge: CUP.

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20

Catedra de Limba i literatura englez

EFL Methodology for English students

DEVELOPING LISTENING COMPREHENSION SKILLS

Without being taught to listen, people may be able to express themselves orally.
However, they will never be able to communicate successfully if they are unable to understand
what is said to them. We cannot develop speaking skills unless we develop listening skills.
Nevertheless, for many years, listening skills did not receive priority in language teaching.
Teaching methods emphasized productive skills, and the relationship between receptive and
productive skills was poorly understood. A recent change of emphasis in the way listening is
viewed has come from a realisation that speaking is not a separate skill in itself; but part of a
broader skill - that of participating in oral/aural interaction - that is, in speaking and listening.
Even extended speaking activities like joke telling, recounting an incident, or giving a lecture,
usually require the active participation of listeners. Some applied linguists go so far as to argue
that listening comprehension is at the core of language acquisition and therefore demands a
much greater prominence in language teaching.
Pupils need a higher degree of aural (i.e. receptive) ability than of oral (i.e. productive)
ability. In other words, they need to listen to and understand a wider range of language spoken
to them (in terms of function, topic, grammar, vocabulary, accent, style, etc.) than they need to
be able to speak. This means that the teacher must ensure at least as much listening practice
as speaking practice, if not more. The amount of emphasis will depend ultimately on what level
of accuracy and what level of communicative sophistication the pupils are aiming at.
Moreover, listening to spoken language is also an important way of acquiring the
language structures and vocabulary.
Unit objectives:

By the end of this unit you should be able to:

identify the various sub-skills involved in the listening process
select and apply appropriate classroom activities to develop these sub-skills
set up, apply and monitor a variety of interactive classroom listening activities
offer a theoretical justification for each of these activities
integrate listening activities with the development of one or more of other skills
assess the learning outcomes of the listening activities.

Key concepts: oral and aural skills, listening styles, redundancy, intensive and
extensive listening in the classroom, pupil response to listening, methodological model for
listening activities, background information, alienation
The nature of the listening process and the listening subskills
In order to develop listening comprehension, it is first necessary to understand the
nature of listening. Two models of listening can be identified: the bottom-up and the top-down
processing models. The bottom-up processing holds that listening is a linear, data-driven
process. Comprehension occurs to the extent that the listener is successful in decoding the
spoken text word by word. The top-down model of listening, by contrast, involves the listener in
actively constructing meaning based on expectations, inferences, intentions, and other relevant
prior knowledge. The language data serve as cues to activate this top-down process. Both
processing skills are important as they both play important, but different roles in listening.
Listening is vital in the language classroom because it provides input for the learner.
Without understanding input at the right level, any learning simply cannot begin. Listening is
thus fundamental to speaking. What sort of skills do your pupils need to develop, and how can
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you help them to do this? We need to look first at what the listening process consists of
(listening subskills):

Sound discrimination and recognition

Identifying different intonation patterns
Recognising words and understanding their information content
Identifying grammatical grouping of words
Understanding redundancy
Recognising non-linguistic cues such as gestures
Using background knowledge to predict and confirm the meaning.

To these subskills we may add prediction, selective listening, listening for different
purposes, and inferencing.

Real-life listening and classroom listening

If you want to prepare your pupils for real-life listening, you need to be aware of the
differences between real-life listening and classroom listening. Classroom listening is usually
controlled and contrived, that is, listening situations are set up in advance, well prepared, and
frequently scripted. Furthermore, the reason for listening is often a linguistic one. The material
listened to may be read aloud from a written text, and as such it is likely to consist of full,
grammmatically accurate sentences, clearly articulated and delivered at a deliberately slow
pace.
By way of contrast, real-life listening situations often involve informal and spontaneous
speech that has different vocabulary, grammar and even different phonology. For instance,
there will be different phonological features in a chat and a supermarket staff announcement. A
chat will generally go fast, it will make use of more contractions and there may also be a lot of
fall - rise intonation. A supermarket staff announcement is generally issued in a monotone. The
style of texts can vary from very formal, to formal, casual or intimate, with no hard and fast
dividing lines between the styles.
If you wish to make your classroom listening tasks authentic, you need to consider
which of the features of real-life listening you can realistically bring into the classroom. In real
life, the language we listen to is quick, informal and improvised, with the speakers putting it
together as they go along. Speakers and listeners often know one another and can anticipate
what they are likely to talk about. Real-world, informal and spontaneous speech has the
following features:

A conversation is usually broken into short chunks as people take short turns to speak,
usually of a few seconds each.

The pronunciation of words is often slurred, and different from the phonological
representation given in a dictionary.

The vocabulary is often colloquial (e.g. guy for man, kid for child, etc.)

Informal speech tends to be ungrammatical: utterances do not usually divide neatly into
sentences; a grammatical structure may change in mid-utterance; unfinished clauses are
common.

There will be bits of the discourse that are unintelligible to the hearer, perceived by the
latter as being noise. This may be because the words are not said clearly, or not known to
the hearer, or because the hearer is not attending. We usually comprehend less than 100
per cent of what is said to us, making up for the deficit by guessing the missing items or
simply ignoring them and gathering what we can from the rest.

Unlike the written text, spoken discourse cannot be retrieved during normal interaction.
The speed of natural speech and the fact that one cannot ask the speaker to repeat more
than once means that listening input has to be processed very quickly. Fortunately,

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redundancy in natural speech allows the listener some processing time.

The speaker is normally redundant, that is, says a good deal more than is strictly
necessary for the conveying of the message. Redundancy includes repetition, paraphrase,
reformulation, glossing with utterances in parenthesis, self-correction. Speakers always
find themselves correcting or iumproving what they have already said. This kind of
redundancy is necessary to help understanding on the part of the listener. Effective
listeners therefore identify these elements of redundancy and are able to guess meanings
with the help of compensation devices.
To some extent redundancy compensates for the gaps created by the noise. Imagine
someone asking you: What did you do yesterday? The question meaning is expressed
by the word what, by the grammar (inversion and the auxiliary verb), and by the phonology
(high start on What, fall - rise intonation on do). There is an abundance of information so
that, if we happen to miss one of the items, we will still have four more chances at
interpreting the utterance correctly.

The speaker normally uses time-creating devices. These are used to gain time for the
speaker so that he can formulate what to say next in spontaneous speech. One typical
example of these devices in the use of pause fillers (e.g. I mean, well, um, urh, er, eh)
which help the speaker to solicit more time to plan and in turn to furnish the listener with
more processing time.

The pressure of time in real-life communication also renders it necessary for the speaker
to use facilitation devices to ease speech production. Effective listeners need to identify
and be familiar with these facilitation devices: fragments of utterances which are
reductions of complete underlying or understood constructions. Many constructions are
less than complete clauses. Ellipses are very common (e.g. Yes, I did; Me, too; So am I,
and so on).
The use of fixed and conventional phrases is another device to facilitate speech
production. Fluency in speech is related to formulaic language use, which includes two
main kinds: memorized sequences and lexical sentence stems. Stock phrases such as I
see what you mean, Im sure youre right but, you know, I mean, kind of, are just some of
the memorized chnks of discourse. The use of these ready-made phrases simplifies the
speakers task, thereby increasing speed and fluency. Memorized and routine utterances
are building blocks of fluent spoken discourse. In fact, such phrases as you know, I mean,
well may serve as pause fillers as well. These phrases will normally give the impression of
fluency; they serve the function of filling unwanted pauses.

The discourse will not be repeated exactly; normally it is heard only once. This may be
compensated for by redundancy, and by the hearers possibility of requesting repetition or
explanation.
To these language features we may add a few characteristics of the real-life context:

Real-life listeners know what to expect. The listener almost always knows in advance
something about what is going to be said, about who is speaking or about the basic topic.
Linked to this is the purpose a listener normally has (e.g. to find out something). A listener
always expects to hear something relevant to this purpose.

Looking as well as listening. Only a very small proportion of listening is done blind (e.g.
listening to the radio or telephone). Normally, a listener has something to look at that is
linked to what is being said; usually the speaker him-/herself, but often other visual stimuli
as well (e.g. a map, scene, or object, or the environment in general).

In real-life, the speaker expects listener feedback. The listener is usually responding at
intervals as the interaction is going on. It is relatively rare for us to listen to extended
speech and respond only at the end. The responses are normally related to the listening
purpose, and are only occasionally a simple demonstration of comprehension.
The speaker usually directs the speech at the listener, takes the listeners character and

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intentions into account when speaking, and often responds directly to his/her reactions,
whether verbal or non-verbal, by changing or adapting the discourse.
Spoken language is not written language spoken aloud. Learners need to be aware of
the features which lack in the written texts to which they are conventioanally accustomed. It is
only when learners are aware of the unique charactersitics of authentic listening input that can
they be equipped with skills to handle real-life communication.
Learners who are used to reading the written form of the language need to be alerted to
the features of real-life listening so that they do not expect to hear uninterrupted, perfect flow of
speech. Knowing what to expect is necessary if they are to be effective listeners.

Types of listening
There are many types of listening, which can be classified according to a number of
variables, including purpose for listening, the role of the listener, the focus, and the type of text
being listened to. These variables are mixed in different configurations, each of which will
require a particular strategy on the part of the listener.
Listening purpose
Listening purpose is an important variable. Listening to a broadcast to get a general
idea of the news of the day involves different processes and strategies from listening to the
same broadcast for specific information. Thus, there are two ways in which we listen: casual
and focused listening.
Sometimes we listen with no particular purpose in mind, and often without much
concentration. Examples of casual listening are listening to the radio while doing housework or
chatting to a friend. Usually we do not listen very closely, unless we hear something that
particularly interests us.
At other times we listen for a particular purpose, to find out information we need to
know. Examples of focussed listening are listening to a piece of important news on the radio or
listening to someone explaining how to operate a machine. In these situations, we listen much
more closely; but we do not listen to everything we hear with equal concentration we listen for
the most important points or for particular information. Usually, we know beforehand what we
are listening for and this helps us to listen.
Role of the listener
The way we listen changes according to what we are listening to, who we are listening
to, where we are, etc.
Another way of characterising listening is in terms of whether the listener is also
required to take part in the interaction. This is known as reciprocal/interactive listening. For
instance, when listening to a monologue, either live or through the media, the listening is
nonreciprocal, but in a conversation the listening is reciprocal.
a)

Interactive/reciprocal and non-interactive/non-reciprocal listening. Reciprocal

listening is, typically, listening in conversations, where the listener is also a speaker.
Non-reciprocal listening is the kind of listening where the listener has no possibility of
contributing.

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Arrange the following listening situations along the continuum reciprocal

non-reciprocal: instructions, traditional lectures, conversation, sermons,
guided tours, loudspeaker announcements.
reciprocal/interactive

non-reciprocal/non-interactive
b)

Transactional and interactional listening. Transactional listening takes place when

we need to know what our interlocutor is talking about because we have to act upon it
somehow. A transactional discourse has a purpose to solicit goods or services or a
favour. Buying a pair of shoes in a shoe shop, ordering food in a restaurant, inviting
someone to come to a party, are all examples of transactional discourse. Transactional
listening requires attentiveness and selectiveness: we have to attend carefully in order
to carry out (or refuse to carry out) what our interlocutor requires. For instance, a waiter
has to listen and note the food and drink required, and so on.
Interactional listening has to do with building and maintaining social relations. It covers
all those conversations where we tell each other what we did yesterday and what we
are going to do tomorrow. It also covers those short interchanges with strangers or
distant acquaintances where we swap platitudes about the weather, comments about
sport, etc. Whereas in transactional listening we need to listen attentively and
selectively, in interactional listening we do not need to do so. However, we may decide
to do so when an interactional conversation takes on a transactional flavour.

c)

Submissive and assertive listening. In submissive listening the listener submits

her/himself to the authority of the speaker. The aim of the listener is to find out what the
speaker means, what his/her opinion is, or to apprehend his/her vision of things. We
might listen to a film or play, to a lecture or a sermon in this way.
Assertive listening is typically non-reciprocal and is to do with listening to a text for what
it can give us. We may not care about the speaker, his/her point of view or style. All we
want to do is get out some facts which are of use to us. We might listen to a
loudspeaker announcement in this way, or to the weather forecast.

Classroom listening activities

The traditional aims for listening lessons were the presentation or practice of
grammatical structures and vocabulary. Even now the principal rationale behind the selection of
listening material in textbooks seems to be either a grammatical or a lexical one. However, it is
often necessary to create lessons or lesson sequences that specifically address the listening
comprehension problems your pupils have. The following could be aims for listening activities:

to increase the pupils awareness of how listening with a purpose can make listening
more effective
to increase the pupils awareness of different styles
to present various aspects of culture enabling the pupils to make useful predictions
to present strategies for dealing with individual unfamiliar words
or, more specifically:

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to increase the pupils awareness of the extent and frequency of contractions/short

forms in normal, rapid speech.
to introduce and provide practice in common collocations
to provide practice in various grammar structures, focussing attention on their meaning
to provide exposure to a variety of dialects, etc.

Some of these aims may still remind you of the traditional use of listening activities to
present or practise language items. The big difference is that the texts used now are mostly
authentic.
Think first!
How authentic does the following conversation seem to be? What
features of authenticity does it show?
A: Where are you going?
B: Im going home.
A: Are you walking or going by bus?
B: Im walking. Im not going by bus.
A: What are your plans for the weekend?
B: Im going to give a party.
A: See you tomorrow.
B: See you.
incomplete sentences
repetition of certain structures
contractions
hesitations and fillers
changes of topic
redundancy
ungrammatical utterances
Listening to spontaneous speech in the classroom
Most listening texts you use in the classroom should be based on either genuinely
improvised, spontaneous speech, or on a fair imitation of it. There are many authentic instances
of listening in the classroom which present themselves in the normal run of things. Giving
instructions, checking registers, answering questions, encouraging pupils, correcting,
explaining, answering questions, solving students problems, all provide authentic classroom
listening. Other authentic listening activities in class which do not necessarily occur normally,
but which can easily be made to occur are, among others, student presentations and pre-lesson
chit-chat. All these texts have the advantages of speaker visibility (your pupils will see you or
another person talking to them) and of being a kind of direct interaction, which the pupils may
interrupt.
On the other hand, a written text that is read aloud as a basis for classroom listening
activity is unlikely to incorporate the characteristics of informal speech and will provide your
pupils with no practice in understanding spoken discourse. You should improvise at least some
of the listening texts yourself in the classroom. Video also makes a positive contribution to the
effectiveness of listening practice, as it supplies the aspect of speaker visibility and the general
visual environment of the text.
When using spontaneous speech, encourage your pupils to develop the ability to
extract the information they need from a single hearing. Help them by using texts that are
redundant enough to provide this information more than once. Whenever possible, they should
be able to stop you to request a repeat or an explanation.
However, even if the pupils can do the task after one listening, you may wish to let them
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hear the text again, for the sake of further exposure and practice and better chances of
successful performance.
Can you think of any advantages of teacher spontaneous speech over
recorded speech?
Do you feel confident when using spontaneous speech?

There are many thoroughly authentic instances of listening to spontaneous speech in

the classroom which present themselves in the normal run of things. The following procedures
provide, in themselves, authentic listening: instructions, checking registers, answering
questions, encouraging students, correcting, explaining, checking, solving students problems.
Authentic listening activities in class which do not necessarily occur normally, but which
can easily be made to occur are, among others, student presentations and pre-lesson chit-chat.
Intensive and extensive listening
According to focus, listening activities can be classified as intensive or extensive.
Intensive listening is done either for detailed comprehension of the meaning of a text or for
language. During the activities which focus on the detailed comprehension of meaning the
pupils are reinforcing a structure or practising a grammar point that is linked to the rest of the
lesson. This can be done through:

Comprehension questions:
(i)
factual, where the answer is clearly stated somewhere in the passage.
(ii)
inferential, where the pupils have to make some sort of connection themselves,
such as a connection between two parts of the passage or between something in the
passage and the pupils knowledge of the outside world.
(iii)
personal, where the question is related to the pupils own experience or opinion.

Summary questions. The pupils listen to a passage and then summarise what they have
heard. They may take notes as they listen. The summary can be written up in the form
of a letter or a newspaper report.

Logical problems can be used to encourage very careful intensive listening.

Intensive listening for language provides detailed work on language once the pupils can
understand what they are listening to. This work is effective if the linguistic exercises are related
to each other and to the listening passage.
In extensive listening the pupils are primarily concerned with following a story or finding
something out from the passage they are listening to. You should prepare the pupils for the
listening by telling them something about the topic of the listening text or by giving them key
words.
To a large extent, however, the division between intensive and extensive listening is
somewhat artificial. It is easy to use the same listening text for both extensive listening and
more detailed work.
Listening comprehension activities classified according to learner response
Listening activities can be classified according to how the pupils respond to the listening
material. Responses give the pupils an immediate motivation, structure the listening and make it
meaningful.

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Think first!
How can you know whether your pupils are following or not, when they are
not supposed to give any response?

No overt responses
The pupils may not have to do anything in response to the listening text, when they are
engaged in such activities as:

Stories. You tell a joke or real-life anecdote, retell a well-known story, read a story from a
book; or play a recording of a story. If the story is well chosen, your pupils are likely to be
motivated to attend and understand in order to enjoy it.
Songs. You sing a song yourself, or play a recording of one. If no response is required the
pupils may simply enjoy the music without understanding the words.
Entertainment: films, theatre, and video. As with stories, if the content is really
entertaining (interesting, stimulating, humorous, and dramatic) your pupils will be
motivated to make the effort to understand without the need for any further task.

Even if the pupils are not asked to give a response during such listening activities, you
can still watch their facial expression and body language to see if they are following or not.
Short responses
The class may be expected to give short responses when they are engaged in activities
like the following:

Obeying instructions. The pupils perform actions, or draw shapes or pictures, in

response to your instructions.
Ticking off items. You provide a list, a text or a picture; the pupils mark or tick off words
as they hear them within a spoken description, story or simple list of items.
True / false. The listening passage consists of a number of statements, some of which are
true and some false. The pupils write ticks or crosses to indicate whether the statements
are right or wrong; or make brief responses (True! or False!); or they may stay silent if
the statements are right and say No! if they are wrong.
Detecting mistakes. You tell a story or describe something the class knows, but with a
number of deliberate mistakes or inconsistencies. The pupils raise their hands or call out
when they hear something wrong.
Cloze. The listening text has occasional, widely spaced brief gaps, represented by silence
or some kind of buzz. The pupils write down what they think might be the missing word. If
you speak the text yourself, then you can more easily adapt the pace of your speech to the
speed of your pupils responses.
Guessing definitions. You provide brief oral definitions of a person, place, thing, action,
etc. and the pupils write down what they think it is.
Skim and scan listening. A listening text is given, in which the pupils are asked to identify
some general topic or information (skimming), or certain limited information (scanning) and
note the answer(s). Written questions inviting brief answers may be provided in advance or
a grid with certain entries missing or a picture or diagram to be altered or completed.
Longer responses

When you organise such activities as the following, you will expect longer responses:
Answering questions. One or more questions demanding fairly full responses are given
in advance, to which the listening text provides the answer(s). Because of the relative

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length of the answers demanded, they are most conveniently given in writing.
Note-taking. The pupils take brief notes from a short lecture or talk.
Paraphrasing and translating. The pupils rewrite the listening text in different words,
either in English (paraphrase) or in Romanian (translation).
Summarising. The pupils write a brief summary of the content of the listening passage.
Long gap-filling. A long gap is left, at the beginning, middle or end of a text; the pupils
guess and write down, or say, what they think might be missing.
Extended responses

In such activities, the listening is only a jump-off point for extended reading, writing or
speaking (these are combined skills activities).

Problem solving. A problem is described orally; the pupils discuss how to deal with it,
and/or write down a suggested solution.
Interpretation. An extract from a piece of dialogue or monologue is provided with no
previous information; the pupils try to guess from the words, kinds of voices, tone and
other evidence what is going on. At a more sophisticated level, a piece of literature that is
suitable for reading aloud (some poetry, for example) can be discussed and analysed.
A number of procedures can be used for encouraging response to a listening piece:

1.
Ask pupils to interrupt/stop the tape and ask for clarification where necessary.
Teach them appropriate language for doing so.
2.
Give pupils a set of comments (What rubbish! That's interesting. I didnt know that.
etc.) Ask them to stop the tape and make the comments in appropriate places.
3.
With dialogue material, stop the tape after each line and ask pupils to say what
they think the other person is going to say.
4.
Ask pupils to fill in charts, forms, etc. where appropriate.
5.
Ask pupils to take notes, especially from lectures, news, current affairs, etc.
6. Provide pupils with the 'task' that would be carried out if they were listening
outside the classroom. For example, after listening to recorded messages on an answering
machine, pupils note down the relevant information to pass on to their classmates.
Which of the six procedures above can be adapted for reading,
too?

Guidelines for designing effective listening tasks

Keep in mind that nothing works all the time, for everybody, in every situation. If an
activity is useful, add it to your repertoire. If it is not, abandon or adjust it. Here are a few basic
points to remember:

Warm up before each activity, by introducing the topic and relating it where possible to
your pupils own lives and interests.
Give clear instructions and then check that the pupils have understood them. It is not
sufficient to ask if they understand. Those who do not may remain silent for fear of
exposing their ignorance. Ask one of the weaker pupils to tell you what they are going to
do.
When using a text, give the title and ask the pupils to predict the kind of language they are
going to hear. Write any key vocabulary that they suggest on the board.
Give them something to listen for, so that they have a purpose in listening. Tell them you
want to know when the incident occurred, where, or what person, animal or object was

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mentioned.
Give your pupils in advance some idea about the kind of text that they are going to
hear. The mere instruction Listen to the passage is less useful than something like: You are
going to hear a husband and wife discussing their plans for the summer. The latter instruction
activates their previous knowledge and enables them to use it to build anticipations that will help
them understand the text.
Provide a listening purpose by setting a task. Thus, rather than say simply: Listen and
understand. give a specific instruction such as: Listen and find out where the family are
going for their summer holidays. Mark the places on your map. The definition of a purpose
enables the pupils to listen selectively for significant information.
Look at the following descriptions and tick the examples of purposeful
listening:

Pupils listen to someone giving directions and trace the route on a

map.

Pupils listen to a weather forecast and decide where they will spend
(After
M., 1993,
Tasks for Language Teachers, CUP)
the weekend if they want
to Parrott,
have good
weather.
Pupils look at photographs of the teachers family and, while the
teacher talks about the people, they have to identify them by name.
Before listening to a description of the town in which they are
studying, pupils make a list of points they would expect to be made. As they
listen to the description they tick the points which are, in fact, mentioned.
Pupils listen to a story and subsequently answer questions about the
events.
The task you set for your pupils will usually involve intermittent responses during the
listening. You should encourage the pupils to respond to the information they are looking for as
they hear it, not to wait to the end. The fact that the pupils are active during the listening rather
than waiting to the end keeps them busy and helps to prevent boredom.
Although they are the most naturally occurring responses, verbal responses are
impractical in the listening classroom. Here the answers will have to be in the form of physical
movements or written responses which can be checked later.
Providing the pupils with some idea of what they are going to hear and what they are
asked to do with it helps them to succeed in the task, and it raises their motivation and interest.
This is often provided by a visual focus: marking a picture, diagram, or map or even a written
text.
If there is no pre-set task, you must make sure that the text itself is stimulating enough,
and of an appropriate level. Occasionally, for the sake of the fun and challenge, or to encourage
your pupils to use real-world knowledge to help interpretation, you may wish to ask them to find
out what the passage is about without any previous hint. There are also listening activities, such
as listening to stories or watching exciting films, which need no clear task beyond the
comprehension itself.
One real problem may be that materials writers often overload the task: too many
responses are demanded of the pupils, information is coming too fast, there is not enough
redundancy and there is not enough time to respond during the listening. The result is pupil
frustration and irritation, even if the listening text is repeated.

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10

Look at the following list of personal factors and indicate which is

characteristic of effective and which of ineffective listening. Write either E
(for effective) or I (for ineffective) in the space provided.
The pupil
tries to understand everything
tries to listen word by word
tries to activate general knowledge of the topic to help him
understand the discourse
guesses in order to help him understand when he misses
information
thinks ahead generally while listening (guesses how the discourse
will develop/what is going to be talked about)
uses his knowledge of the language to narrow down the range of
possibilities with regards to what the next key word or phrase may be
varies his attention during the listening process, concentrating on
particular words which are stressed, and on stretches of speech which are
pitched relatively high in the voice range.
After Parrott, M. 1993, Tasks for Language Teachers, CUP

Procedures for the systematic development of listening

comprehension
If you follow a systematic approach to teaching listening skills, then you might want to
include phonology teaching procedures in your listening lessons. You could go beyond the
phonological level and provide lexis and discourse recognition tasks, too.

Developing recognition and discrimination of phonological features

1.
2.

3.
4.

Model, drill, show on board phonemes, consonant clusters at word boundaries,

weak forms, main stress, intonation
Pupils show recognition (by raising: a left/right hand; a red/blue rod; a card with 1
or a card with 2 written on it; etc. ) of:
word boundary phenomena (Did you hear /p/ or /b/?)
minimal pairs
stress recognition (Which word was stressed flower or red?)
intonation recognition (Did the intonation on the stressed syllable go or ?)
Pupils listen and mark stress on a transcript.
Pupils listen and mark pause, change in pitch, etc. by drawing a line.

Skim listening
Skim listening (or gist listening) is listening to get an overall idea of what is going on.
This is not to be confused with a first listening procedure, where you allows pupils to
listen to a tape once through to get a general idea, before going on to more detailed
comprehension questions. The point of this is simply to help learners over the difficulties
of alienation from the tape recorder.
The most obvious way of doing this is to expose pupils to different non-interactive
listening pieces and to point out, by comparison, what sort of overall message is going
on.

Building confidence with listening pieces and texts

1.

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If you are planning to make extensive use of a tape recorder or video recorder for
11

2.
3.
4.

listening, then you can help them to feel confident by using the equipment in the
first instance to play music or to show film with no dialogue.
Use a short extract at first, building up to longer pieces.
Confidence can be built up by providing very easy tasks initially, moving on to
more difficult ones.
Pupils can increase their confidence in reading by underlining everything they
understand (this encourages a positive attitude, focuses attention on meaning
rather than on difficulties, and provides a vocabulary avoidance strategy).

A basic methodological model for the teaching of listening

comprehension
From the late 1960s, practitioners recognized the importance of listening and began to
set aside time for practising the skill. A relatively standard format for listening developed at this
time:

Pre-listening. Pre-teaching of all important new vocabulary in the passage.

Listening. Extensive listening (followed by general questions establishing context).

Intensive listening (Followed by detailed comprehension questions)

Post-listening. Analysis of the language in the text (e.g. Why did the speaker use the
present perfect?) Listen and repeat: teacher pauses the tape, learners repeat words.

Over the past several decades, teachers have modified this procedure considerably.
Now you can work with a model which has five basic stages:
1.

Lead-in/pre-listening:

Setting the context and creating motivation. Pre-teaching of vocabulary has now largely
been discontinued. In real life, learners cannot expect unknown words to be explained in
advance; instead they have to learn to cope with situations where part of what is heard will
not be familiar. It may still be necessary to present three or four critical words at the
beginning of the listening lesson, but these must be absolutely indispensable key words
without which any understanding of the text would be impossible. Although some kind of
pre-listening activity is now usual, involving brainstorming vocabulary, reviewing areas of
grammar, or discussing the topic of the listening text, one should set two simple aims for
the lead-in/pre-listening activity:

To provide sufficient context to match what would be available in real life;

To create motivation (perhaps by asking learners to speculate on what they will hear);
Prepare the class or have the pupils to prepare themselves for the task and get familiar
with the topic of the listening activity. One of the major reasons for this is to create
expectations and arouse their interest in the subject matter of the text.

2.

Directing comprehension task: Make sure that your pupils know what they are going
to do (to answer questions, fill in a chart, complete a message or try and re-tell what
they heard). Explain and direct the pupils purpose for listening.

3.

Listening for the task. Speak or play the record while the pupils listen to the text to
perform the task you have set.
Extensive listening. Most teachers make use of the extensive/intensive distinction. On a
similar principle, listening tasks and international examinations usually specify that the
recording is to be played twice. This is unnatural because in real life one gets only one
hearing. However, the whole situation of listening to a cassette in a language classroom is
artificial. Furthermore, listening to a strange voice speaking in a foreign language demands
a process of adjusting (to the pitch, speed, and quality of the voice). An initial period of

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12

extensive listening allows for this.

Preset task/preset questions. There have been changes in the way that comprehension is
checked, too. We recognise that learners listen in an unfocused way if questions are not
set until after the passage has been heard. Unsure of what they will be asked, they cannot
judge the level of detail that will be required of them. By presetting comprehension
questions, we can ensure that learners listen with a clear purpose, and that their answers
are not dependent on memory.

Intensive listening. More effective than traditional comprehension questions is the current
practice of providing a task where learners do something with the information they have
extracted from the text. Tasks can involve labeling (e.g. buildings on a map), for filling (e.g.
a hotel registration form), and completing a grid.
Another benefit of tasks is that they demand individual responses. Each learner can make
choices and makes something of what s/he hears.
4.

Directing feedback.
Checking answers. When the pupils have performed the task, help them to see if they
have completed the task successfully and find out how well they have done. This may
follow a stage in which pupils check their answers with each other first.

5.

Post-listening: directing text-related task.

Examining functional language. Organise follow-up tasks related to the text. For instance,
ask them to do more analytical work. Thus if the first task involved getting the general
picture, return to the text for such a task as inferring attitude or deducing meaning.

Inferring vocabulary meaning. Also as part of post-listening, you can ask learners to infer
the meaning of new words from the contexts in which they appear just as they do in
reading.
However, if the pupils perform unsuccessfully in their first comprehension task, redirect
them to the same task to try again.

Choosing listening materials for the classroom

Your choice of listening materials can be affected by considerations which have to do
with presenting and practising grammar or vocabulary items. Apart from that, it is also possible
to select texts and listening material on skills development basis. In this situation, you will
consider the skills that the pupils will use outside the classroom and not the areas of phonology,
grammar or vocabulary that are creating difficulties. Apart from these, several other factors need
to be taken into account, like text type, style and register and listening style.
An effective listening lesson will be characterised by the following features (Nunan,
241):

The materials should be based on a wide range of authentic texts, including both
monologues and dialogues.
Schema-building tasks should precede the listening
Strategies for effective listening should be incorporated into the materials
Learners should be given opportunities to progressively structure their listening by
listening to a text several times and by working through increasingly challenging
listening tasks.
Learns should know what they are listening for and why.
The task should include opportunities for learners to play an active role in their own
learning.
Content should be personalised.

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13

Using authentic listening texts

If we use authentic texts, the pupils will be unable to identify most of the words they
hear. In real-life situations, on the other hand, understanding of what is said may be less than
perfect. Consequently, we need to help our pupils to adopt coping strategies:

Identify the words in a few fragmented sections of the text.

Make inferences linking the parts of the text about which they feel most confident
Check those inferences against what comes next.

This kind of strategy is not confined to low-level learners. We need to encourage learners
to listen and write down the words they understand; to form and discuss inferences; to listen
again and revise their inferences; then to check them against what the speaker says next. In
doing this, they get practice in the kind of listening they are likely to do in real life and we also
make them realise that guessing is not a sign of failure, but something that most people resort
to when listening to a foreign language.

Problems with classroom listening

Think First!
Can you name some of the reasons why your pupils may not
understand a spoken text? What aspects of listening to English are
particularly difficult for your pupils to cope with?

Trying to understand the spoken word through a similar medium presents particular
difficulties. Besides the obvious difficulty presented by divorcing the spoken word from its
normal visual circumstances, pupils may be alienated by the quality of the recording and their
inability to have any control over what they are listening to and, in particular, over the rate at
which it is delivered. Listening to a voice coming from a machine is neither easy nor common.
Most pupils listen to the radio or other kinds of recordings materials mainly for music. The only
parallels with life outside the classroom are listening to announcements in airports, stations or
supermarkets, or listening to commentaries in museums and on tourist buses. Moreover, the
topic can be strange or unknown, and the pupils may feel all this is offensive on their normal
capacities.
The classroom may have a strange effect on some pupils normal capacities. Under
normal circumstances, we always listen or read for a reason: enjoyment, curiosity, interest; or
the need for a train time, an address, etc. There is always a purpose to our listening. This
reason helps us to set up expectations about the content of the message and helps us to
interpret it or to decode it. Similarly, under normal circumstances, we tend to get our bearings
before listening. We do this in a number of ways: we may hear the title of a programme on the
radio; at the beginning of a conversation we may ask a couple of questions to our interlocutor to
check that we are both talking about the same thing; we may summon our existing knowledge
(schemata) about the subject to the fore of our minds; we may look at the object our companion
is pointing to, and so on. Finally, under normal circumstances, we may choose to listen in
different ways: we may decide, for instance, not to listen to a loudspeaker announcement which
is intended for someone else.
The pupils in the classroom, however, have these normal mechanisms suspended. To
most pupils, the purpose of listening in the classroom is an instructional one. This is one reason
why pupils can normally listen to your instructions with less difficulty than when they are given a
listening activity. Additionally, the classroom provides distractions which may hinder normal
attention and also creates tensions, like being asked questions in front of others.
The pupils ability to listen extensively is determined, to a great extent, by their
awareness or knowledge of the topic. If they know what they are going to listen to, they have
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14

expectations that they expect to be fulfilled, and they make predictions about what the
speaker(s) will say. These expectations and predictions channel their attention to specific parts
of the utterance. By knowing what to expect, and what they are listening for, they can more
easily home in on what needs most attention or concentration. However, the pupils may not
have enough background information. They need a network of general background information
to help them comprehend the things they hear. Even extremely competent language users can
have difficulty in listening when they are unable to use or to perceive the background
information.
Background information is an important factor in the expecting, predicting, recognising
and inferring chain of skills. This information can be in the shape of the general situation (e.g.
where the listening takes place), or the way speakers look (e.g. how they are dressed, or the
expressions on their faces), or the scenario that is called up as the monologue or conversation
gets under way. We refer to our experience to get ready and interpret what we hear correctly.
Lack of linguistic knowledge will also hinder the pupils attempts at understanding what
they listen to. They may have difficulty understanding non-standard variants or they may be
unfamiliar with many of the words in what they are listening to. In such situations they will give
up trying to understand the text. If their grasp of grammar is shaky then they will misinterpret the
message of the text.
Why does the presence of individual unfamiliar words hinder the
understanding of a spoken text?

Anything we listen to is overflowing with information, and competent listeners are given
a large number of chances to decode the message of a text. Competent language users are
familiar with the patterns of sounds, stress, intonation, spelling, lexis, grammar, discourse and
style are able to eliminate unlikely alternatives spontaneously and unconsciously at every tiny
step of the unfolding of the discourse. Exploiting redundancy means that when we are listening
and we miss a word or a grammar marker, such as past-tense morpheme, we can usually
guess what that word or marker was by hearing to the rest of the utterance. In other words, it is
knowledge of patterns that makes the task of listening easier. The expectations of which
sounds follow which, which words commonly go together, how words combine syntactically,
along with background knowledge, reduce the amount of sounds, sound-groups, letters and
words they actually need to hear.
Can you understand what this speaker, with a slight speech defect,
is saying: Top talking, tand till and tay there until I tell you to move. Why
(not)?

A good knowledge of how English discourse works helps the pupils to predict what they
are about to listen to and to make correct inferences about what they have just heard - to make
backwards and forwards connections to other parts of the discourse they are engaged in. This
enables them to build a picture of the meaning of the discourse and of the relationships within it.
The pupils lack of familiarity with the linguistic patterns of English reduces both their
predictive and their guessing ability. Also, if your pupils level of language is not good enough,
they cannot understand fast, natural speech. They will often ask you to slow down and speak
clearly (by which they mean pronounce each word the way it would sound in isolation). If you do
so, you will help them to learn to cope with everyday informal speech. Your pupils should be
exposed to as much spontaneous informal talk as they can successfully understand.
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15

The pupils may find it difficult to keep up with the listening task. They may feel
overloaded with incoming information. The solution is not so much to slow down the discourse
but rather to encourage them to stop trying to understand everything, learn to pick out what is
essential and allow themselves to ignore the rest.
The pupils may often need to hear things more than once. There may also be good
pedagogical reasons for exposing them to texts more than once. In real life, however, they will
have to cope with one-off listening. You can try to use texts that include redundant passages
and within which the essential information is presented more than once and not too intensively.
You can also give them the opportunity to request clarification or repetition during the listening.
The pupils will get tired. This is one reason why listening passages should not be very
long, and why you should break them into short chunks through pause, listener response or
change of speaker.
Teaching or testing listening?
We have little option but to use some kind of checking procedure to assess the extent of
understanding that has been achieved. We tend to judge successful listening simply in terms of
correct answers to comprehension questions and tasks. We focus on the product of listening
when we should be interested in the process what is going on in the heads of the learners. On
this view, the main aim of a listening activity is diagnostic: identifying listening problems and
putting them right.

Summary
Listening is seen as a complementary skill to speaking in communication. Pupils may
find listening difficult because some teachers consider it a passive skill, which does not need
teaching. However, as listening is a medium over which the pupils have no control, it should be
taught along with speaking. The pupils should be exposed to as many different types of listening
as possible, as the objective of listening comprehension practice in the classroom is that pupils
should learn to function successfully in real-life listening situations.

Further reading
Field, John. The Changing Face of Listening in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A.
2002, Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.
Harmer, Jeremy, 1991, The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman
Hubbard Peter et al., 1983, A Training Course for TEFL, OUP
Lam, Wendy Y.K., Raising Students Awareness of the Features of Real-World Listening Input
in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language
Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.
Nunan, David. Listening in Language Learning in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A.
2002, Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.
Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: CUP.
Ur, Penny, 1996, A Course in Language Teaching. Practice and Theory, CUP

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16

Catedra de Limba i literatura englez

EFL Methodology for English students, year II

DEVELOPING SPEAKING SKILLS

Literate people have a number of different language abilities: speaking, listening,
writing and reading. Speaking and writing involve language production and are therefore
often referred to as productive skills. Listening and reading involve receiving messages and
are often referred to as receptive skills.
The four major language skills are summarised in the following chart:
MEDIUM
S
K
I
L
L

SPEECH

WRITTEN WORD

RECEPTIVE

Listening comprehension

Reading comprehension

PRODUCTIVE

Speaking

Writing

However, this is a very general picture of language skills. Very often language users
employ a combination of skills at the same time. In conversation, for instance, speaking and
listening happen simultaneously. People may also read and write at the same time, they may
make notes or write something based on what they are reading.
From a pedagogic perspective, it does not mean that skills should be treated
separately, either. Very often one skill cannot be performed without another. Moreover,
competent users need a number of sub-skills for processing the language that they use and
are faced with. As in most of the cases, a certain language experience involves the use of
different skills; classroom teaching will have to reflect this. Even when our activities focus on
one particular skill, the focus can later shift to one or more of the other skills. The principle of
integrating skills where focus on one skill leads to practice in another should constantly
be followed, and although there are activities where individual skills may be treated
individually the principle of integration should be borne in mind.

Key Concepts: communication, accuracy vs. fluency, controlled practice, less

controlled practice, freer practice.
By the end of this lecture you should:

have a clear idea of the nature of the speaking skill

be aware of the problems encountered by your pupils when developing their speaking
skill in English
know the meaning of the term communicative competence
be aware of the accuracy vs. fluency debate.
know about a wide range of classroom activities to develop accuracy and fluency
have explored several options in the identification and correction of mistakes in both
accuracy and fluency activities.

The speaking skill in communication

A great deal of what English teachers do in their classes can be considered
communicative, and their general objective is to develop their pupils communicative
competence. In fact many teachers would probably say that they follow the Communicative
Approach. They might however find it difficult to say precisely what they mean by this, or to
define communication, as definitions can vary.
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Building on Hymes theory, Canale and Swain (1980) propose that communicative
competence includes grammatical competence, discourse competence, sociolinguistic
competence, and strategic competence, which reflect the use of the linguistic system and the
functional aspects of communication, respectively.
sociolinguistic
competence

communicative
competence

discourse
competence

linguistic
competence

strategic
competence

Linguistic competence is the ability to manipulate the system of the language.

Sociolinguistic competence is the awareness and ability to adapt all use of language to a
communicative context. In combination, these two competences can be said to form
communicative competence. Two other competences, strategic competence and discourse
competence, are also involved.
Why and when do we speak?
In considering the role of speaking as it relates to communication, and the relevance
of speaking to language teaching, we have to answer a few questions: a) why and when we
speak, b) what the speaking skill involves, and c) what factors influence speaking.
A large percentage of the language learners study English in order to develop
proficiency in speaking. The ability to speak a foreign language well is a very complex task if
we try to understand the nature of what appears to be involved. To begin with, speaking is
used for many purposes, and each purpose involves different skills.
We speak in order to:

get information about things or people

explain, instruct, direct
get something done
express judgement, opinions, feelings
promote warmth, friendship, etc
relate events, anecdotes,
give descriptions, etc.
Can you think of other reasons for speaking? List them in the space
provided below.

When we use casual conversation, for example, our purposes may be to make social
contact with people, to establish rapport, or to engage in chitchat. When we engage in
discussion with someone, on the other hand, the purpose may be to seek or express
opinions, to persuade someone about something, or to clarify information. In some situations,
we use speaking to give instructions of how to get things done. We may use speaking to
describe things, to complain about peoples behaviour, to make polite requests, or to
entertain people with jokes and anecdotes. Each of these purposes (functions) for speaking
implies knowledge of the rules that account for how spoken language reflects the context or
situation in which speech occurs, the participants involved and their specific roles and
relationships, and the kind of activity that speakers are involved in. Thus, the factors which
influence the speakers language choices are: a) the interlocutors (speaker and listener); b)
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the code (shared language of the interlocutors); c) the message topic and the message form,
the setting / situation, the function of each utterance as it relates to what has been said
before, to what each interlocutor assumes the other already knows, to the intended message
of the speaker. The interlocutors attitudes towards each other are also important.
Language macrofunctions
The functions of spoken language are interactional and transactional. Remember that
the primary intention of the former is to maintain social relationships, whereas that of the
latter is to convey information and ideas. In fact, much of our daily communication remains
interactional. Being able to interact in a language is essential and what we can do with
language is endless. Roman Jakobson (Closing statements: Linguistics and Poetics, Style in
language, T. A. Sebeok, New York, 1960) defined six functions of language (or
communication functions), according to which an effective act of verbal communication can
be described:

referential: describing a situation, object or mental state, talking about the world, the
past, etc.;

expressive (also called "emotive" or "affective"): expressing emotions, imagination,

opinions, etc., adding information about the speaker's internal state;

conative (also called directive): engaging the addressee directly and best illustrated
by vocatives and imperatives; influencing other peoples behaviour (e.g. request for
permission, order, instructions)

poetic: using language creatively (especially in literature and humour); focuses on "the
message for its own sake"[3] and is the operative function in poetry as well as slogans.

phatic: promoting human warmth; using language for the sake of interaction. The
Phatic Function can be observed in greetings and casual discussions of the weather,
particularly with strangers.

metalinguistic (also called metalingual or reflexive): using language (what Jakobson

calls "code") to discuss or describe itself; talking about the language one is using (e.g.
John is the subject of the sentence).
Each macro-function can be sub-divided into the functions we can identify in our
everyday interactions with people. The directive, descriptive, expressive and phatic macrofunctions and their many sub-divisions, are the most likely to be relevant to the average
general English pupil.

What does communication involve?

Communicating involves two types of activity that take place almost simultaneously:
planning and execution. It is a combination of linguistic and cognitive sub-skills, social and
cultural awareness, and confidence.
Linguistic sub-skills
The speakers have the ability to discriminate and manipulate sounds and sound
sequences in order to produce fluent, intelligible speech and to use accurate and meaningful
stress and intonation. They also have the ability to make linguistic choices at the level of
vocabulary and grammar, and at the level of style and register, to form natural and
meaningful sentences, appropriate to ones communicative purpose in a given situation.
The linguistic sub-skill involves the language competence, which is an umbrella
concept that includes increasing expertise in morphology, syntax, vocabulary and mechanics
(basic sounds, syllables, pronunciation of words, intonation and stress). In order to convey
meaning, EFL learners must have the knowledge of words and sentences: they must
understand how words are segmented into various sounds, and how sentences are stressed
in particular ways. Thus, grammatical competence enables speakers to use and understand
English-language structures accurately and unhesitatingly, which contributes to their fluency.
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In addition to grammatical competence, EFL learners must develop discourse

competence, which is concerned with intersentential relationships. In discourse, whether
formal or informal, the rules of coherence and cohesion apply, which aid in holding the
communication together in a meaningful way. One needs an ability to perceive and process
stretches of discourse, and to formulate representations of meaning from referents in both
previous sentences and following sentences. Therefore, effective speakers should acquire a
large repertoire of structures and discourse markers to express ideas, show relationships of
time, and indicate cause, contrast, and emphasis. With these, learners can manage turn
taking.
Cognitive sub-skills
The cognitive sub-skills involve formulating language in the mind as a representation
of the intended meaning. This involves planning on three levels: discourse, utterance and
constituents.
Discourse takes account of the kind of communication the speaker is participating in
(e.g. joke telling; conversation; giving instructions, etc.), the situational and linguistic context,
the features of conversation and the cohesion of the utterances. Efficient speakers make
linguistic choices (grammatical, lexical, and phonological) appropriate to context, follow the
conventions of spoken discourse and adopt a suitable communication strategy. They know
how to check whether the listener is interpreting the message correctly and, if necessary, can
do repairing.
The meaning of the planned utterances, is considered in terms of what function they
will have (e.g. requesting, checking, advising, etc.), the topic of the overall communication
(e.g. politics, bringing up children, etc.), what information can be taken as known and what
needs to be considered as new and how the message will be conveyed stylistically (e.g.
straight, ironical, understated, etc.)
Speakers also need to make choices referring to specific constituents: linguistic items
(lexical units, structures, stress, intonation), and to organising these in the right order.
For native speakers planning and execution is generally a spontaneous process,
though speech errors, repetitions, hesitations, and false starts indicate that people often start
speaking before a constituent is completely planned.
Social and cultural awareness
Knowledge of language alone does not adequately prepare learners for effective and
appropriate use of the target language. Learners must have competence which involves
knowing what is expected socially and culturally by users of the target language; learners
must acquire the rules and norms governing the appropriate timing and realization of speech
acts. Understanding the sociolinguistic side of language helps learners know what comments
are appropriate, how to ask questions during interaction, and how to respond nonverbally
according to the purpose of talk.
Effective speakers are aware of social rules, show sensitivity to rules of behaviour
(e.g. turn-taking and giving attention signals) when participating in conversations, and can
select an appropriate style and register for a given situation, purpose, and listener. They are
aware of the value system of their interlocutors and show the ability to accompany speech
with appropriate meaningful non-verbal communication such as facial expressions. They are
also aware of intonation and politeness formulae in promoting good relationships.
Strategic skills/competence is perhaps the most important of all communicative
competence elements. They refer to the ability to compensate for imperfect knowledge of
linguistic, sociolinguistic and discourse rules. As far as speaking is concerned, strategic
competence refers to the ability to know when and how to take the floor, how to keep a
conversation going, hoe to terminate the conversation, and how to clear up communication
breakdown as well as comprehension problems.

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Nonlinguistic communication
Diversity in interaction involves not only verbal communication, but also non-linguistic
elements such as gestures and body language/posture and facial expression which
accompany speech.
What do you understand by confidence as a linguistic sub-skill?

Developing communicative competence in the classroom

The interactive behaviour of EFL learners is influenced by a number of factors.
Factors affecting oral communication
Age or maturational constraints
Age is one of the most important determinant factors of success or failure in foreign
language learning. Krashen, Long and Scarcella (1982) argue that acquirers who begin
learning a foreign language in early childhood through natural exposure achieve higher
proficiency than those beginning as adults. The adults progress seems to level off at a
certain stage, a phenomenon which is called fossilisation the permanent cessation of
language development. This shows that the aging process itself may affect or limit adult
learners ability to pronounce the foreign language fluently with native like pronunciation.
Adult learners do not seem to have the same language-specific endowment or propensity as
children for acquiring fluency and naturalness in spoken language.
Aural medium
Listening plays an extremely important role in the development of speaking abilities.
Speaking feeds on listening, which precedes it. Usually, one person speaks, and the other
responds through attending by means of the listening process. In fact, during interaction,
every speaker plays a double role both as listener and as a speaker. If one cannot
understand what is said, one is certainly unable to respond. So, speaking is closely related to
or interwoven with listening, which is the basic mechanism through which the rules of
language are internalised. The fleetingness of speech, together with the features of spoken
English loosely organised syntax, incomplete forms, false starts, and the use of fillers
undoubtedly hinders EFL learners comprehension and affects the development of their
speaking abilities.
Sociocultural factors
From a pragmatic perspective, language is a form of social action because linguistic
communication occurs in the context of structured interpersonal exchange, and meaning is
thus socially regulated. In other words, shared values and beliefs create the traditions and
social structures that bind a community together and are expressed in their language. Thus,
to speak a language one must know how the language is used in a social context. Each
language has its own rules of usage as to when, how, and to what degree a speaker may
impose a given verbal behaviour on his or her conversational partner. Because of the
influence or interference of their own cultural norms, it is hard for non-native speakers to
choose the forms appropriate to certain situations (e.g. paying compliments).
In addition, oral communication involves a powerful nonverbal communication
system, which sometimes contradicts the message provided through the verbal listening
channel. Because of the lack of familiarity with the nonverbal communication system of the
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target language, EFL learners don not know how to pick up nonverbal cues. As a result,
ignorance of the nonverbal message often leads to misunderstanding (e.g. Lets get together
for lunch sometime said with an indifferent facial expression).
Affective factors
The affective factors related to foreign language learning are emotions, self-esteem,
empathy, anxiety, attitude, and motivation. Foreign language learning is a complex task that
is susceptible to human anxiety, which is associated with feelings of uneasiness, frustration,
self-doubt, and apprehension. Speaking a foreign language is public, especially in front of
native speakers, is often anxiety-provoking. The sensitivity of learners to making mistakes, or
fear of losing face is the explanation for their inability to speak English without hesitation.

Oral practice activities

Since most EFL learners in Romania learn English in their own culture, practice is
available mainly in the classroom. So, a key factor in the learners development is the
opportunity to speak in the language-promoting interaction. English teachers must arouse in
the learners a willingness and need or reason to speak. Many people outside the world of FL
teaching have the impression that running a discussion class is something anyone can do
you dont need any training or experience, you just go in and talk! The truth is that very often
students have no interest in the subject, no relevant knowledge or experience, no motivation,
no desire or perceived need to speak about it or they even experience slight panic as they do
not have time to think. As a result of all these, they have nothing to say.
A possible way of stimulating learners to talk is to provide them with extensive
exposure to authentic language through audiovisual stimuli and with opportunities to use the
language. Teachers should also integrate strategy instruction into interactivities, providing
information about communicative strategies to raise learners awareness about their own
learning styles so that they can tailor their strategies to the requirements of the learning
tasks.
Features of speaking activities
In designing activities, teachers should consider all the skills conjointly as they
interact with each other in natural behaviour, for in real life as in the classroom, most tasks
should be manipulative, meaningful, and communicative, involving learners in using English
for a variety of communicative purposes. Specifically, speaking activities should:
1. be based on authentic or naturalistic source materials;
2. enable learners to manipulate and practise specific features of language;
3. allow learners to rehearse, in class, communicative skills they need in the real
world;
4. activate psycholinguistic processes of learning.
Consequently, when organising a speaking activity, we need to bear in mind
questions like:

Is the activity promoting real communication? How natural can communication be in the
classroom?
What aspects of non-linguistic communication are my pupils showing: facial expression,
gesture, tone of voice?
What different registers of language can be practised in this activity? What range of
styles and registers do they need?
Do my pupils need to learn to communicate to the same degree of complexity and
subtlety?
To what extent does effective communication depend on linguistic accuracy?

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and also

Is the subject relevant and interesting?

Do the students know anything about the topic or are they provided with information to
give substance to the topic?
Do they feel motivated to talk about the topic?
Do they feel that they really want to say something?

There may be no certain answers to these questions. However, they develop an

awareness and an understanding of the issues which currently circulate in language
teaching.
Types of input for speaking activities
Based on the criteria above and on the answers to the above questions, the following
types of input appear to be particularly relevant to eliciting spoken-language production:
aural, visual, material and culture awareness (Kang, 209-10).
Aural oral activities
Aural materials such as news reports on the radio have to be fine-tuned to a level
accessible to particular groups of learners. These materials can be used in some productive
activities as background or as input for interaction. The pupils are directed to listen to taped
dialogues or short passages and afterwards to act them out in different ways.
Visual oral activities
Because of the lack of opportunity in foreign language settings to interact with native
speakers, the need for exposure to many kinds of scenes, situations, and accents as well as
voices is critical. This need may be met by audiovisual materials such as films, videotapes
and soap operas. They can provide a) the motivation achieved by basing lessons on
attractive and informative content material; b) the exposure to a varied range of authentic
speech (different registers, accents, intonation, rhythms, and stresses; and c) language used
in the context of real situations, which adds relevance and interest to the learning process
(Carrasquillo, 1994). While watching, students can observe what levels of formality are
appropriate or inappropriate on given situations. Similarly, they can notice the nonverbal
behaviour and types of exclamations and fill-in expressions that are used. Also, they can pay
attention to how people initiate and sustain a conversational exchange and how they
terminate an interactive episode. Subsequent practice of dialogues, role-playing, and
dramatizations will lead to deeper learning.
Visual stimuli can be utilised in several ways as starter material for interaction to elicit
opinion-expressing activities.
Likewise, nonverbal videos can be played to have students describe what they have
viewed. While watching, students can focus on the content and imitate the models body
language. In this way the students will be placed in a variety of experiences with
accompanying language. Gradually, they will assimilate the verbal and nonverbal messages
and communicate naturally.
Material-aided oral activities
Appropriate reading materials facilitated by the teacher and structured with
comprehension questions can leaf to creative production in speech. Storytelling can be
prompted with cartoon strips and sequences of pictures. Oral reports or summaries can be
produced from articles in newspapers or from some textbooks. Similar material input such as
hotel brochures, can be used for making reservations; menus can be used for making
purchases or for ordering in a restaurant. Language input for communicative tasks can be
derived from a wide range of sources. This will help learners deal with real situations that
they are likely to encounter.
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Culture awareness oral activities

Culture plays an instrumental role in shaping speakers communicative competence,
which is related to the appropriate use of language (e.g. how native speakers make an
apology and what kind of form the apology takes). Appropriateness is determined by each
speech community, by the shared social and cultural conventions of a particular group of
speakers. Therefore, it is essential to recognize different sets of culturally determined rules in
communication. Many cultural assumptions which are presupposed by the native speakers
need to be drawn explicitly to the attention of speakers from other cultures. Thus, teachers
can present situations in which there are cultural misunderstandings that cause people to
become offended, angry, and confused. Learners can be asked to analyse and determine
what went wrong and why, which will force them to think about how people in the target
culture act and perceive things. This will inevitably provide a deeper insight into that culture.

Accuracy vs. fluency

Speaking activities may have several aims, but usually the main aim is to provide an
opportunity for the learners to practise speaking, with more attention to improving fluency
than to getting accurate sentences.
Accuracy activities are activities in which you aim for the pupils to concentrate on the
language they are using. These include manipulating, practising and freely using particular
items of language (e.g. a substitution drill to practise the form of the present perfect, an
elicited dialogue to practise apologising, a free stage to practise conditional II; etc.)
Accuracy

Fluency

Fluency activities are activities where you want the pupils to concentrate on what
they are using the language for. Language is seen as a tool to be used to fulfil whatever the
pupils are engaged in doing (e.g. a pupil is explaining to a classmate how to do something).
What choices will you make when deciding for an accuracy or a fluency
activity?

All these choices have implications on how the activity contributes to the pupils
overall speaking skill in all its various dimensions.
In the course of teaching both accuracy and fluency must be worked on and
developed, and must both be a part of your teaching at any level. In some activities, e.g.
semi-controlled practice, it may well be difficult to separate the two. It is however difficult to
work effectively on both at once. It will be helpful if you decide what the main priority is for
any given activity. Both advanced classes, which are already relatively fluent, and early levels
classes may need emphasis on accuracy work. Fluency activities may be graded to the
abilities of the pupils, both in terms of the level and amount of language needed to complete
the task and in terms of the amount of autonomy your pupils are able to cope with. What is
important is to give classes of all levels opportunities to use language creatively and for their
own purposes.
There are times in class when a focus on accuracy (and greater use of instant
correction) is appropriate. There are other times when the focus is on fluency. At these times
instant correction is less appropriate and could interfere with the aims of the activity. The
teacher needs to be clear about whether her main aim is accuracy or fluency, and adapt her
role in class appropriately.
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If the main aim is to get the students to speak, one way to help would be for teachers
to reduce their own contributions. The less teachers speak, the more space it will allow the
learners. It could be useful to aim to say nothing while an activity is underway, and save any
contribution for before or after.
Similarly, getting out of the way might be a help. If the teacher stays at the front of
the class, visible and clearly keeping an eye over everything, that might put students off
talking. Watching unobtrusively but with interest form a back corner may be a good idea. The
more involved the teacher is, the more she will end up doing the communication rather than
the students. There are times when the teacher can be most helpful by forcing students to
face problems themselves.
Whether an activity is accuracy or fluency-biased may not depend on the activity
itself, but on the way in which you set it up: are the pupils told to use particular language or
are they free to use any language at their disposal? Similarly, the kind of feedback you give
may determine whether the pupils see the activities in terms of accuracy or fluency.

Types of speaking activities

The activities primarily designed for oral practice are grouped according to the
degree of control exerted by the teacher over the pupils language choice. They show a
gradual move from very controlled to freer. Many of the activities are flexible in this respect,
i.e. you may choose to exercise more or less control according to their aims and the pupils
needs. Teachers generally follow the traditional model of language teaching, which attempts
to realise the principles of staging learning. This model is:

presentation (including controlled oral practice)

less controlled oral practice (also called guided creativity or semi-controlled oral
practice)

freer stage. In this stage the focus may still be on the language being practised. You will
select activities that are likely to produce the language that has recently been presented and
practised. In fluency activities, this is not the case.
Practice can be graded from very controlled to semi-controlled to freer practice. This
progression gives the pupils the chance to see when and how they need to use the target
items in real life and to become more independent language users. Some activities will be
accuracy based, i.e. aimed at the correct production of specific language, but as we move
along the continuum from controlled to free, there are increasing opportunities for the pupils
to practise and develop fluency. This will occur whenever they are more interested in the
content of what they are saying than in the forms they use, when they are engrossed in an
activity and concentrating on carrying out a task.
Generally speaking, the speaking practice activities that you organise will offer your
pupils the chance to both practise specific language items and develop the speaking skill
itself, which will be useful to them in communication.
If for example, your pupils are involved in an activity where they choose an
appropriate apology for a variety of situations, they will be practising both specific apologetic
formulae and will be making linguistic choices appropriate to context. In other words, you aim
at either accuracy or fluency or at some point along the continuum that connects them.
Thus a basic procedure for a communicative speaking activity might be:
1.
2.
3.

Teacher introduces and sets up activity (teacher centre-stage).

Students do activity (teacher out of sight, uninvolved)
Teacher gives and gets feedback, does follow-on work, etc. (teacher centre-stage
again).
A. Controlled practice activities

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The aim of controlled oral practice activities is to provide practice in manipulating and
discriminating sounds, stress, intonation, formal components (e.g. word order) and in
reinforcing and discriminating meaning. Controlled oral practice is essential. Controlled
refers to the control and limitation on the range of language choice open to the pupils while
practising, and not to the degree of authority you impose on the class. It promotes fluidity with
sounds and sound sequences, with rhythm and intonation. It can also promote fluidity with
stock phrases (e.g. How do you do?, Do you mind if I...).
Controlled oral practice activities allow the pupils to experiment with a language
structure within a limited range of choice. At the same time, they give the teacher the chance
to provide correction on grammar and phonology.
Though many controlled practice activities are usually done with the teacher as
focus, most can be extended into pairs practice to increase the amount of practice each
individual pupil gets. It may be necessary to demonstrate the activity in open pairs (i.e.
across the class) before letting pupils practise in closed pairs. This is particularly true of
information gap activities.
a) Repetition practice. A variety of drills may be employed at the controlled practice
stage of a lesson, usually starting with choral and individual repetition practice and then
extending into substitution drills, often followed by a question and answer drill. Repetition and
substitution practice is based on the model provided by the teacher. The pupils repeat in
chorus or individually the model given. In the substitution drills, you also provide the new
word.
What procedure would you use for a question and answer drill?
Compare your answer with the one suggested at the end of the unit.

b) Action chain/ Chain drill. One way of ensuring a lot of question practice is to do
the drill as an action chain or chain drill. Pupils sit in a circle and P1 asks P2, P2 asks P3,
and so on. It is essential to set this up clearly, and it helps to keep all the prompt or picture
cards moving in the same direction.
c) Mingling activity. Another way of maximising practice is to extend the drill into a
mingling activity, where pupils walk around the class asking their questions to as many other
pupils as possible. This can also be a question and answer drill in which the pupils may
respond to written or picture prompts or, depending on the nature of the questions, may be
giving genuine (communicative) answers based on their own experience.
d) The Information Gap technique can be applied to question and answer
practice. If you ask the pupils to give answers based on their own experience (e.g. about their
likes or dislikes) there is a natural information gap as the questioner probably does not know
the answer. For other types of material the information gap may be supplied by the teacher.
Example
Pupils A and B have the same account of the life of Jim Walter, but each account has
different pieces of information blanked out. The target structures are Past Tense Simple and
wh- question forms. The level of study is elementary.

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10

Pupil A

Pupil B

15th May 19, Jim Walter

15th May 1970, Jim Walter

was born in , Great Britain.

was born in Brighton, .

1977: He started school

19: He started school.

1999: He married Ella Burns.

1999: He married, etc.

Pupils A has to ask:

Pupil B has to ask:

What year was Jim Walter born?

When did he start school?

Where was he born?, etc.

Who did he marry in 1999?, etc.

Existing materials can be easily adapted to make information gap material, by typing
out the material with gaps included.
e) Imposed dialogues. At a low level, an imposed dialogue may be used as a way
of giving very controlled practice. Here is a basic procedure for such a dialogue:
a) Establish situation and characters, then use listening drill;
b) Organise repetition drill sequence to establish: first line, second line, first +
second lines together, third line, first + second + third lines together, etc., up to maximum six
seven lines. The idea is for the pupils to learn the dialogue by drilling it, so that they are
able to say it to each other in pairs by the end.
Example
The aim of the activity is to practise Could I have, How much? and food vocabulary
(countables and uncountables).
Customer:

Good morning.

Shopkeeper:

Good morning.

Customer:

Could I have five apples please?

Shopkeeper:

Certainly, sir.

Customer:

How much are they?

Shopkeeper:

10p each, sir. 50 pence please.

Customer:

Thank you.

Once the dialogue is established, give each customer three other items to buy and
each shopkeeper three other prices.
How much drilling is advisable and when depends on the level of your pupils and the
nature of the language item (easy vs. difficult). In drilling, the language choice is kept to a
minimum through the linguistic and situational limits set up by you. In this way the practice of
a particular rule can be focussed on. In controlled activities the primary aim is fluidity, i.e. the
rapid and accurate production of patterns or sentences. Within the limitations on choice,
some creativity and real communication are, however, possible.
Mechanical, meaningful and communicative drills
Many drills provide merely mechanical practice of form, but this is not true of all drills.
A drill is mechanical when the sentence(s) being practised have no context and the prompts
that generate the manipulations of form are provided at random either by the teacher or the
material (as in repetition, substitution and transformation drills). Such practice is useful in
promoting language fluidity.
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11

Meaningful drills provide both context, and the mechanical manipulation necessary
for accurate fluidity. Although designed for paired practice, they are not truly communicative
Why cannot meaningful drills be considered communicative?

Communicative drills, combine the mechanical practice and context principles, but
also add the information gap principle.
Meaningful and communicative drills and imposed dialogues can promote
reinforcement of meaning.
Personalisation of controlled practice activities
Even at the controlled stage of the lesson, you may allow your pupils some
opportunity to experiment with the language more freely and creatively. You may ask them,
for instance, to add their own examples at any stage in the controlled practice.
It is also common practice to include a personalisation stage towards the end of the
initial presentation stage, where the pupils relate the language they are learning to their own
lives and experience. For instance, if they have been working on there is / there are in the
context of rooms and furniture, they may at this stage describe their own rooms. Or; if the
structure is used to do they can talk about their childhood, education, former habits, etc.
Some structures, however, may be difficult to personalise. At the personalisation stage the
activity is usually quite short so as not to demand too much of the pupils.
Correction in controlled practice activities
As an alternative to you always giving the corrected model, other pupils in the class
can be called upon to give the correct version as a model. However, correction during this
stage has to be mediated through you.
What advice would you give your friend about how to organise
correction during the language presentation stage of the lesson?

Controlled practice and communicative language teaching

Drills are lively and snappy if done with vitality, technical precision, and humour. They
are good for varying pace and practising quick pronunciation or form. Pupils like drills
because they are safe, i.e. they have little chance of making mistakes. Drills, however, can
be predictable, mechanical and unnatural.
The preoccupation with communicative teaching has made some teachers believe
that the communicative activities equip the pupils with the chosen language item(s), which
can be internalised more efficiently in communicative activities. This assumption has led to a
rejection of controlled practice activities. However, the pupils need opportunities for controlled
practice, followed up with further semi-controlled practice in later lessons.
B. Less controlled practice activities
The aim of less controlled practice activities is to offer either more pronunciation
practice or more practice of recently learned language. They provide context to reinforce the
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12

meaning of recently learned language or in making linguistic choices. Thus the pupils may
become more linguistically independent.
Though some part of these activities will be teacher-centred (e.g. setting it up, drilling
for intonation, etc.) pair work is likely to play a great part in this stage of the lesson.
Correction in less controlled practice activities
Correction will still be necessary for target items, but your pupils may now be able to
correct each other to a large extent. You will still be needed for some correction (e.g.
intonation, pronunciation of lexical items not included in the controlled stages) and as a
resource for the language needed by individual pupils or groups.
Adapting controlled practice activities for less controlled practice
A number of activities used for controlled practice may be adapted for less controlled
practice. For example, an information gap may be based on a jigsaw reading. Thus it will
provide pupils with the opportunity to use target items in new contexts.
Similarly, dialogues may be handled in a less controlled way. Instead of using an
imposed dialogue, you may use a) a cued dialogue, b) a completion dialogue or c) an elicited
dialogue. These activities can be used to revise and consolidate structures, vocabulary, or
functional exponents, to give pupils an opportunity to practise making linguistic choices, to
help them assimilate new language into their existing pool or to develop their use of rhythm
and intonation.
Examples
a)

Cued dialogues will be acted out.

Pupil A

Pupil B

You meet B in the street

You meet A in the street

Greet B

Greet A

Ask B where he is going

Say you are going for a walk

Suggest somewhere to go together

Reject As suggestion. Make a different suggestion.

Accept Bs suggestion

Express pleasure
(after W. Littlewood Communicative Language Teaching, CUP)

b) In a completion dialogue activity, half the pupils get one part of the dialogue,
the other half get the other part. In pairs or groups the pupils work out possible responses.
Then they re-form in new pairs so that the two roles interlock, and they read out the
utterances they have devised. The original prompt dialogues are set aside during this
interlock session. The ensuing dialogue is usually coherent and the pupils intrigued by their
own ingenuity.
Pupil A

Pupil B

Two sisters one has just arrived home

Two sisters - one has just arrived home

and looks ill.

and looks ill.

Jenny: You look awful Sue!

Sue: .
Jenny: What on earths the matter?
Sue:
Jenny: Have you eaten anything unusual?
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Jenny: ..!
Sue: I feel awful.
Jenny: ?
Sue: Ive got a dreadful stomach-ache.
Jenny: .?
13

Sue: .
Jenny: Thats probably what caused it. You
should go and lie down.
Sue:

Sue: No, nothing special, only that

Chinese meal last night.
Jenny:
Sue: Yes, I think youre right, I will.

c) An elicited dialogue is usually based on blackboard drawings, pictures, or

mime. The length of the dialogue will depend on the pupils level. Be prepared to allow for
slight variations in each line if your pupils offer appropriate alternatives during the eliciting
phase.
Set scene and characters, pre-teach essential vocabulary, then give first prompt (e.g.
mime, picture or drawing) and ask What does he say? Select one of the pupils offers, elicit
any necessary correction, have it repeated, and then standardise it yourself for pronunciation,
rhythm and intonation. Give the pupils individual practice and correction. Move on and give
prompt for second line, asking And what does she say? Elicit, correct, standardise, and
practise. Now there are two lines, so give the pupils open pair practice. Elicit third line,
following the same procedure, leading again to open pair practice of all three lines. Elicit
fourth, fifth lines, etc. and use the same procedure, until the entire dialogue has been elicited
and practised. Finally, the pupils go into closed pairs to practise the dialogue and finish by
acting it out in front of the class.
A: Good afternoon. Id like a double room please.
B: Yes sir. Would you like a bath and colour television?
A: Yes, please.
B: Would you like breakfast in your room tomorrow morning?
A: No, thank you. How much is it going to cost?
B: Er ... 50 sir.
A: etc.
Example
Use a drawing or a picture as a prompt: man and woman at hotel counter. Say :This
is Mr. OConnor. Where is he? And whos this? Point to the pupils and gesture two fingers.
Ask: What does Mr. OConnor say to hotel receptionist? Possible elicitations from pupils:
a. Hello, I can find here a room for two persons?
b. Excuse me, have you in this hotel a double room?
c. Good evening I want a room for two people.
Choose one elicitation and mould it by prompts or gestures until it is linguistically and
sociolinguistically correct. This is then used as the model and it is drilled. The other lines are
prompted and elicited in a similar way.
Narrative building
Elicited narratives can be used to revise and consolidate structures or vocabulary.
They give the pupils an opportunity to practise making choices, to practise continuous
speaking, or to help them assimilate new language into their existing pool of language. There
are two types of elicited narratives: i) blackboard drawings, pictures, or sounds, and ii) mime
stories.
i)
Blackboard drawings, pictures, or sounds. Select or draw a series of
pictures and find a story or monologue to fit, containing natural use of structure or
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vocabulary. Set scene, characters, time and context. Pre-teach necessary vocabulary.
Display first picture on blackboard, prompt, select elicitations, standardise, practise, recap,
and move on. Display second picture on blackboard and repeat the same procedure. Be
careful that link-words are practised too. Finally recap whole story ensuring linking of
sentences.
To exploit group work: a) mix up pictures and ask the pupils to sort them out
themselves; b) leave out the key picture and ask the pupils to supply the missing element; c)
give the pupils random flash cards which they have to sequence; d) give a written story or
joke chopped up and ask them to reconstruct it.
ii) Mime stories. Develop a set of clear instruction gestures. Use a mimeable
story containing natural use of structure or vocabulary. Establish instructions and check if the
pupils have understood. Pre-teach vocabulary if necessary. Set scene, characters and time
context clearly. Mime each stage clearly - elicit, select, standardise, practise, recap, move on
to next mime. Follow the same procedure. Make sure sentences are linked naturally. Recap
whole story, ensuring sentence linking where necessary and involving as many pupils as
possible.
What activities would you use as follow-up for narratives?

Even less controlled narrative building

Pupils need practice in other aspects of monologues, and in particular in discourse
linking and in different discourse types, e.g. joke telling, explanations, instructions, directions,
relating events, or telling anecdotes.
Narrative building of this type is a pre-communicative activity. It helps the pupils to
cope with problems of tackling monologues, but it is not a natural or authentic activity, as we
seldom tell stories or relate events from pictures.
Think of a situation where the pupils may recount an event naturally, e.g. going to a
police station to report something, reporting something to a newspaperman, or giving
reasons for being late for school. Feed in narrative devices, such as Youll never guess what
happened next! or Do you know what happened next? plus responses: No, what? or
Really? Leave the story open-ended for the pupils to carry on in groups or for homework.
What advice would you give a friend who is going to use a narrative in
the lesson?

Games
Language games are an ideal activity for providing semi-controlled practice, as the
nature of the game tends to restrict the actual language used. Some games are so limited in
the language they require that they can be used for controlled practice e.g. Spot the invisible
fly, where you choose the location of the fly and the pupils guess, asking Is it on my nose /
in your bag / under the table? etc. The winning pupil chooses the next location.
Most games, however, allow for some choice in the language used. Playing the
game may lead naturally to the use of language items the pupils have not come across in
other classroom activities, but which may be useful to them in other circumstances. These
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phrases may be pre-taught, or taught as they crop up in the game. (Pupils often, for example,
want to know the verb to cheat or the phrase Its your turn, etc.)
Depending on the way you set up the activity, some games may be adapted to
provide freer practice.
Example Alibi
Two pupils are accused of a crime that took place within a fixed period of several
hours the day before. They go out of the room and plot their joint alibi, while the police who
remain in the classroom prepare questions to ask them. The suspects are then questioned
one at a time and the police try to break their alibi. If you prompt, help or correct in the
preparation stage, the activity is semi-controlled. If, however, the class are left to their own
devices, the game allows for freer practice, as they can ask any questions they want.
C Freer practice. Speaking for fluency
We have looked at speaking mainly as a way of providing practice in producing
specific language items. We also need to consider how speaking practice in class can help
prepare the pupils for communicating naturally in real life.
One may speak fluently and easily and yet not necessarily be able to communicate
effectively in all situations. It is important therefore to choose the activities very carefully so
that you give your pupils sufficient practice in the kinds of conversations they will need to take
part in real life.
Many kinds of speaking activities involve patterns your pupils will need outside the
classroom. You will need to make the selection and ensure the balance. Such patterns are in
operation in both monologues and dialogues. So it will be helpful for you to highlight these
patterns, possibly via a listening text. Also, you will need to highlight the reactions of the
listener (noises, questions, etc.) For instance, you need to teach the language used to give
helpful feedback to someone telling a story. At low levels the reactions taught might be
simply Mm (with appropriate intonation) or Really, while at higher levels a greater range
could be included.
Examples
Tell a story and pause at intervals to encourage your pupils to respond appropriately.
Another option is to give them possible reactions accompanying the script of story: the pupils
in groups will decide which reactions can fit where. Offer such reactions as: Ah, Oh, I see,
Hum! Typical!, Really!, What happened?, Good idea, Oh!, Very wise, Yes, of
course, What?, No, of course not, I know what you mean!, How awful / terrible /
dreadful!, Oh dear, I see!, etc.
For freer practice, your pupils can tell their own stories (prepared as homework) and
others respond or encourage them.
The aims of the freer activities can be to increase the pupils ability to deal with the
unpredictable, to give them maximum opportunity for self-expression, for the exploitation of
their language resources and for the practice of their communicative skills. They encourage
pupils independence and risk-taking rather than risk-avoiding strategies. They give them
more practice in making linguistically and socially appropriate choices. Your role in such
activities is of advisor, facilitator, monitor, or guide.
At the freer stage, the pupils choice of language is not directly prompted by you.
The activities are likely to lead naturally to the production of the target language. However,
some teachers like to preface the activity with instructions like Try to use the language we
have been practising or Try to use the Past Perfect, etc. In general, the success or
otherwise of a free practice activity depends on how far the pupils get into the activity, and
this basically depends on a few factors.

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What are, in your opinion, the factors that will determine the success of
a freer practice activity?

While many of the more controlled practice activities can be adapted for freer
practice, certain activities are particularly suited to this stage of the lesson.
a) Information gaps. If, for example, you are working on reported speech, you
might base your work on a jigsaw reading or listening. The pupils, in groups, could listen to a
number of candidates (no more than three) being interviewed for the same job and would
then re-group to choose the successful applicant. At this stage it would be natural for them to
use reported speech to pool their information. Similarly, the groups could read statements
made by witnesses of an accident (or suspects for a crime, etc.) and after re-grouping they
would decide who was responsible.
b) Problem solving. Information-gap activities involve the pupils in making a
decision. Thus their free speaking has a definite aim, and they have a task to complete. This
motivating principle can also be exploited in specific problem-solving activities.
Examples
i)
Tell the class Theres a dead man in the middle of a road with a pack on his back. The
class must find out what happened from you, but you can only answer Yes or No. Thus
the class will get a lot of practice in asking past simple questions. [Answer: his parachute
didnt open].
ii)
Survival problems. From a list of 20 items, the pupils choose six which would help
ensure their survival on a desert island or on the moon. If treated as hypothetical questions,
these will lead naturally to practising the Conditional II. If on the other hand, the pupils are on
a sinking ship, the Conditional I or will for spontaneous decisions is more likely to occur.
c) Games. Though most games, by their very nature, imply some measure of
control, they may well allow the pupils a wide choice of language and may be very
appropriate as free stage activities. Alibi for example can easily be set up as a freer practice
of past tenses.
d) Discussions. A discussion will offer your pupils free practice in the language of
agreeing or disagreeing, but discussion topics can be chosen to lead naturally to a variety of
other language areas. Thus a discussion of the future of the world ecological problems is
likely to involve future tenses, and Conditionals I and II. A discussion of the merits and
importance of past discoveries and inventions will lead to the use of the Conditional III.
These examples are more suitable for higher level pupils. For lower levels discussion
topics need to be carefully chosen to ensure that the pupils have sufficient language at their
disposal to express their views. Discussion is possible however with quite early levels if the
topic is geared to pupils personal knowledge and the vocabulary required is not too complex.
Discussions on different cultural customs, celebrations and common superstitions can prove
fruitful at quite early levels.
Some discussions may involve an element of role-play. The classic example is the
balloon debate where the members of the class represent famous people (or jobs /
professions) trapped in a balloon (or rocket or nuclear shelter) where resources will only
allow one to survive, so each must justify their own existence and talk the class round to
choosing them.
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e) Drama. Drama is an excellent way to get students using the language. It

essentially involves using the imagination to make oneself into another character, or the
classroom into a different place. It can be a starting point for exciting listening and speaking
work and it can be utilized as a tool to provide practice in specific grammatical, lexical,
functional or phonological areas.
By bringing the outside world into the classroom in this way we provide a lot of useful
practice (in cafes, shops, banks, business, streets, parties, etc.) that would otherwise be
impossible. There can also be a freeing from the constraints of culture and expected
behaviour; this can be personally and linguistically very liberating.
Success or failure of drama activities depends crucially on the perceived attitude of
the teacher and of the other students; without a certain degree of trust, acceptance and
respect the chances for useful work are greatly diminished.
What is the difference between a role-play and a simulation?

Six types of drama activity are commonly found in ELT classrooms:

Role-play. A role-play is a drama-like classroom activity in which pupils take on the

role of different participants in a situation and act it out. For instance, they may play a waiter
or shop assistant and they may be involved in developing an actual character or attitude.
Students may act out scenes using their own ideas or from ideas and information on rolecards.

Simulation. A simulation is a large-scale role-play. As with role-plays, the pupils may

or may not be required to take on a new persona. These classroom activities reproduce or
simulate real situations in which the pupils have various tasks or problems to solve. This
often involves group discussion and some dramatisation. They can extend over a period of
several days and may also incorporate reading, listening and writing skills as well as
speaking. Role-cards are normally used and there is often background information as well.
The intention is to create a much more complete, complex, world (a business company,
television studio, government body, etc.).
Both role-plays and simulations may be chosen to promote the use of particular
language points, of differences in style and register.

Acting play scripts. Short written sketches or scenes are acted by the students.

Prepared improvised drama. Students in small groups invent and rehearse a short
scene or story and then perform for the others.
Setting up the activity carefully is crucial to the success of any freer activity. In roleplay and discussions it is unlikely that all stages would be accomplished in one lesson. Here
are some tips:
1.
Input: give input, informational or linguistic, checking use and understanding
2.
Materials: choose them carefully to ensure relevance, interest, and motivation
3.
Instructions: make them clear and simple.
4.
Roles: give appropriate roles to the pupils, taking care not to give dominant
roles to either quiet or dominant pupils
5.
Preparation time: allow your pupils the time to think, prepare, formulate
language and ideas (in groups or individually, in class or at home)
6.
Class management: plan the use of props and the seating. Your role will be in
the background (monitoring, advising or participating as a peer)
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7.
Learners language: make notes of mistakes, and use them as a basis of future
remedial work.
8.
Feedback: organise remedial work, use written consolidation, a summary of
topic points, and a summary of language points.
What kinds of questions do you need to ask yourself when using
discussions, role-plays and simulations?

Feedback on fluency-developing activities

The aim at this stage is for the pupils to produce language naturally and fluently.
Once the activity is under way you will intervene as little as possible, generally only if
communication breaks down entirely. Feedback on language performance will be given after
the activity has been completed and is based on your notes, made while monitoring.
Unobtrusive correction or help with language may sometimes be supplied during the activity,
perhaps by passing the pupil concerned a note.
Is correction of mistakes in structure or functional exponents an appropriate follow-up
to a fluency activity? This is a question that you will decide in relation to the needs of your
pupils, but a few points are worth considering here:
1.
pupils may expect this type of feedback
2.
the focus has been on communication, so mistakes may not have interfered
with the pupils successful completion of the task and may therefore be irrelevant
3.
feedback can be given on how successful communication was
4.
where the pupils have struggled to communicate, some help or repair work will
be needed. This could be given in a later lesson rather than as instant feedback.
Here are some ideas for correction work after a fluency activity:

the teacher writes up a number of sentences used during the activity and discusses
them with the students.
the teacher writes a number of sentences on the board. She gives pens/ chalks to the
students and encourages them to make corrections.
the teacher invents and writes out a story that includes a number of errors she
overheard during the activity. She hands out the story the next day and the students,
in pairs or groups or as a whole class attempt to find the errors and correct them.
the teacher writes out two lists headed A and B. On each list she writes the same
ten sentences from the activity. On one list she writes the sentence with an error; on
the other list she writes the corrected version. Thus the correct version of sentence 3
might be on either list A or B and the other list has an error. The teacher divides the
students into two groups, A and B, and hands out the appropriate list to each group.
The groups discuss their own list (without sight of the other list) and try to decide if
their version of each sentence is correct or not. If it is wrong they correct it. When they
have discussed all the sentences, the groups can then compare the two sheets.

Summary
Here is a simple framework for integrating practice in communication, offered by
William Littlewood in Communicative Language Teaching:

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Structural activities (1)

Pre-communicative activities
Quasi-communicative activities (2)
Functional communication activities (3)
Communicative activities
Social interaction activities (4)
(after William Littlewood, Communicative Language Teaching)

Your pupils will need preparation for communication. The activities geared to the
easy manipulation of structures (e.g. substitution drills) and the practice activities which do
not necessarily involve real communication (e.g. info gaps activities) are bridging activities.
The pupils will then be ready to practice in communicative activities (functional
communication activities and social interaction activities.)
In functional communication activities the pupils are using language for the purpose
of carrying out a task (e.g. solving a problem, reaching a consensus, etc). This type of
communication practice will be complemented by social interaction activities where the pupils
simulate the kind of conversations situations they may be involved in outside the class and
may need to choose appropriate styles, intonation patterns, etc. Role-plays and simulations
are examples of this category.
Littlewood points out that there is no clear dividing line between these different
categories; they represent differences of emphasis rather than distinct divisions. Also, at any
level all four types of activity may be employed but graded in scope and difficulty to the needs
and abilities of the pupils.

Further Reading
Canale, M., and Swain, M. 1980. Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to
second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics, 1, 1 47.
Carrasquillo, A. L. 1994. Teaching English as a second language. A resource guide. New
York: Garland Publishing.
Harmer J., 2001, The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman
Krashen, S. D., R. Scarcella, and M. Long (Eds.) 1982.Child adult differences in second
language acquisition. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
Littlewood W. 1981, Communicative Language Teaching, CUP
Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: CUP.
Shumin, Kang. Factors to consider: Developing Adult EFL Students Speaking Abilities in
Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: CUP.

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Catedra de Limba i Literatura englez

EFL Methodology year II English majors

DEVELOPING READING SKILLS

In many foreign language teaching situations, reading receives a special focus.
There are several reasons for this. First, many foreign language students often have
reading as one of their most important goals. They want to be able to read for information
and pleasure, for their career, and for study purposes. Second, written texts serve various
pedagogical purposes. Extensive exposure to comprehensible written texts can enhance
the process of language acquisition. Good writing texts also provide good models for
writing, and provide opportunities to introduce new topics, to stimulate discussion, and to
study language.
Generally speaking, we read for two main reasons: pleasure and the need for
information. We read because we want to get something from the text a message
facts, enjoyment, ideas, or feelings. For our pupils, reading in English is also a means of
improving language itself. Some of the language read will stick in their mind as part of the
process of language acquisition. Reading also provides models for writing, opportunities
to practise and develop the reading skill, and to gain cultural insights and understanding.
Reading is also essential in the teaching of literature.
In discussing reading, we will consider the text, ones reasons for reading, reading
styles, and what the reader brings to the process of reading.
The aim of this unit is to help you build awareness and understanding of current
theories of reading and an ability to translate these theories into practical applications for
the classroom.
By the end of the lecture, you will be able to:

use recent information about reading that relates to classroom instruction

set up a variety of classroom reading tasks
integrate reading activities with the development of one or more other skills
identify the various sub-skills involved in the reading process
select and apply appropriate classroom activities to develop the reading
sub-skills
apply in your classroom ideas, suggestions, examples of reading techniques
that are consistent with theoretical principles
assess reading techniques, comparing and contrasting them with other
activities that have been found to be successful, practical and relevant.

Key Concepts: text authenticity, cohesion, coherence, intensive reading,

extensive reading, skim reading, scan reading, top-down processes, bottom-up processes,
reader response.

1. Difficulties Related to Reading in a Foreign Language

Here are a few dilemmas concerning the development of the reading ability
formulated by Grabe (278 283):
1. How can any reading approach be relevant to all different contexts? Foreign
language contexts are more complex than L1 ones: they include all the
contexts for L1 instruction and add the foreign language dimension.
2. Learning theories, whether sociohistorical or cognitive should be given careful
attention, as should affective and motivation theories.
3. Formal aspects of language and genre structure contribute to readers
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4.

5.

6.

7.

developing comprehension and inferencing abilities. Awareness of text

structure is a critical aspect of reading comprehension. And learners who are
aware of text structure have better comprehension abilities.
A large vocabulary is critical, not only for reading, but for all L2 language skills,
for academic abilities and for background knowledge. Students in L1 academic
contexts learn an average of 40,000 words by the end of secondary school,
and learn approximately 3,000 new words each year in school. How will an L2
student develop such a large vocabulary and compete with average L1
academic students? Moreover, most academic vocabulary is learned
incidentally through reading and discussion about reading material. This further
complicates the L2 reading task since there are fewer opportunities for
incidental contexts. In L2 contexts, the best way to develop such a large
vocabulary is to read extensively.
Reading fluency requires that a reader know at least 95% of the words
encountered in a text for minimal comprehension, and these words need to be
recognised automatically with minimal conscious effort. But that sort of
vocabulary knowledge requires knowledge of 12,000 20,000 different words.
Students will only develop such a large automatically recognised vocabulary
from consistent, extensive reading. Fluency is closely tied to a large reading
vocabulary and extensive reading.
In both L1 and L2 reading instruction situations, the social context of the
students home environment strongly influences reading development; in
particular social class differences do appear to have an indirect effect on
reading development. The most basic response to this is to encourage
students to read extensively.
We learn to read by reading a lot, yet reading a lot is not the emphasis of most
instruction in L2 contexts. Both teachers and students feel that there are more
important things to do in EFL contexts.
Although it is important that L2 students increase reading fluency, develop their
vocabulary and engage in extensive reading, these issues are not sufficient for
reading comprehension. A critical component for comprehension is the ability
to use appropriate reading strategies and to know when to use them and in
what combinations, depending on different reading purposes and tasks.

2. The Text
There is a variety of text types. These can be grouped into categories, known as
genres, such as:

functional or immediate reference information texts

enjoyment and correspondence
literary texts
journalistic literature and topical information texts
leisurely and incidental information texts
professional, specialised or technical texts
miscellaneous, etc.
Could you group the following texts according to the genres
mentioned above? Use the table provided below.
personal letter, literary studies, magazine articles, reports, editorials,
recipes, car repair manual, operating instructions, brochures,
cartoons in newspaper, picture captions, textbooks, novels, tales,
essays, diaries, biographies, rhymes, postcards, notes, telegrammes,

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stop press, advertisements, headlines, television listings, comic

strips, cartoons, guidebooks; dictionaries, catalogues, telephone
directories, directions, puzzles, timetables, maps, legends (of maps,
pictures), posters, signs (e.g. road signs), business letters.
Genre

Text Types

Functional or immediate
reference information texts
Literary texts
Professional, specialised or
technical texts
Enjoyment and correspondence
Leisurely or incidental
information texts
Journalistic literature and topical
information texts
Miscellaneous
Although you should encourage your pupils to read and get familiar with as many
different types of texts as possible, not all of them can be used in any classroom. Your
decisions about what texts to use will depend on who your pupils are and what they need
reading for. A balance has to be struck between the types of reading texts and the pupils
capabilities and interests.

2.1 Authenticity of Text and Task

There has been a lot of discussion about the texts that are suitable in the
classroom. The greatest controversy has centred on the authenticity of texts. Authentic
texts are written by and for fluent native speakers, while inauthentic texts are specially
designed for learners. In a really authentic text, nothing of the original is changed, either in
terms of structure and vocabulary or presentation and layout. Recent textbook materials
try to preserve as many of the initial features of an authentic text as possible so that the
pupils can anticipate meaning by using non-linguistic clues.
Some teachers believe authentic texts cannot be used with beginner pupils.
Actually, there is some authentic material that even beginners can understand to some
degree, such as menus, timetables, signs, and simple instructions. Getting your pupils
accustomed to reading authentic texts from the beginning does not necessarily mean a
more difficult task for them. However, the use of authentic texts with beginner pupils may
be frustrating and that is why more accessible, simplified texts are often used instead.
Simplifying a text may mean either replacing difficult words or structures by those
already familiar to the pupils, rewriting it in order to make its organisation more explicit, or
giving a simplified version of the contents.
The difficulty of a reading activity depends as much on the text itself as on the task
set for the pupils. That is why, your selection of the activity is as important as the selection
of the text.
The reading tasks must be realistic in terms of both language use and pupils
abilities. They should also be flexible and varied. Some may consist in questions of various
types. Other texts may lend themselves to non-linguistic activities (e.g. tracing a route on a
map, or matching drawings and paragraphs). Anyway, you should encourage your pupils
to use different reading strategies (e.g. Now skim this text quickly and get the main idea;
Youll have to study this text carefully to look for). However, it is also important to
remember that many texts are to be read for pleasure and that some activities might spoil
this pleasure.
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Here is a short paragraph made up of well-formed, temporally

accurate and meaningful sentences. Do you think this text is
authentic? Why (not)?
I dont know what to do for my holiday. It will start at the
beginning of October. I saved enough money for a really nice trip.
Last year I went to the Black Sea coast. It will be too late to go to the
mountains. I worked hard all year. I really need a break.

2.2 Text Structure

A text is not a random collection of sentences. A text that communicates
successfully has unity: the sentences and paragraphs that make it up are related in a
meaningful way to each other. In order to comprehend the message of the text, the pupils
have to be aware of these relationships and of certain features of text structure.

Cohesion

Cohesion refers to the way a text holds together by particular linguistic means.
These include pro-forms (e.g. pronouns, a few verbs like have, will, do) connectors,
reference, substitution, ellipsis and vocabulary. It is essential for the pupils to understand
how a text is made up, the web of relationships that is built among the ideas. If the pupils
fail to understand this, they may also fail to understand the structure, the communicative
value of the text, and its function.
In the classroom, questions involving cohesion can serve as a comprehensionchecking device, for they enable you to see if the correct interpretation has been made.
Could you identify some of the cohesion markers in the
following extract from Bill Brysons A Walk in the Woods?
Consider this: Half of all the offices and malls standing in
America today have been built since 1980. Half of them. Eighty
percent of all the housing stock in the country dates from 1945. Of all
the motel rooms in America, 230,000 have been built in the last
fifteen years. Just up the road from Gatlinburg is the town of Pigeon
Forge, which twenty years ago was a sleepy hamlet nay, which
aspired to be a sleepy hamlet famous only as the hometown of
Dolly Parton. Then the estimable Ms. Parton built an amusement
park called Dollywood. Now Pigeon Forge has 200 outlet shops
stretched along three miles of highway. It is bigger and uglier than
Gatlinburg and has better parking, and so of course gets more
visitors.

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Connectors:

Reference:

Ellipsis:

Vocabulary:

Coherence

Coherence refers to the way in which sentences and groups of sentences in a text
make sense in relationship to each other. Sometimes the writer indicates the relationship
between sentences by the use of connectors, such as: but, moreover, and yet, in contrast,
etc. Some other times the pupils will have to infer the writers purpose and the relationship
between the sentences.
Some texts achieve coherence through other means, too. In telling a story, for
example, or giving a report, the writer usually proceeds by telling what happened next. In
descriptive passages, coherence may be achieved by the writer describing different
aspects of the same object, person or scene.
The sentences below are both cohesive, but one has a problem
of coherence. Which is incoherent? How can you explain the
problem?
a. Yesterday I got up late and had to leave in a hurry.
b. Yesterday I got up late and it will have to fly away.

Sequences

The sequence of sentences and paragraphs indicates relationships between ideas

and information. For instance, They were watching television when we got home
suggests that we got home is more important than they were watching television. When
we got home they were watching television suggests that they were watching television is
more important.

Grammar

Grammar also has a text function. If someone says I was driving very fast. I had
overslept, you see, we probably understand that I had overslept is an explanation for I
was driving very fast. This is partly because of the sequence, partly because of you see,
but also because we expect the past perfect to be used to provide explanations.

3. Reading Styles
A crucial factor in reading is purpose. This determines the way we read. In real life
we may want to glance quickly through a sports article to see who won, or to go quickly
through a telephone directory to find someones telephone number. On the other hand, a
legal document requires much closer attention, perhaps several readings, because we
need to grasp the information in detail. We read different texts with different purposes and
at different speeds. In some cases we read silently while in others aloud.

Reading aloud and silent reading

Reading is normally a silent activity and it should be encouraged as such in the

classroom. You can sometimes read aloud fragments, especially for beginners, but the
pupils should be asked to read aloud as rarely as possible. Reading aloud may have some
value as a means of testing pronunciation, but it does not help comprehension. Also,
excessive practice in reading aloud tends to prevent the pupils from developing efficient
silent reading strategies. Moreover, reading aloud is a highly specialised skill and very few
pupils will need this.
Other kinds of reading found in the classroom include silent reading and following
the text in the book while the teacher or individual pupils read aloud. Silent reading should
be encouraged in most cases, though you may sometimes need to read parts of a text
aloud.
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Extensive reading

Extensive reading consists of reading (longer) texts, usually for ones own
pleasure. It involves rapid reading of large quantities of material or longer readings (e.g.
whole books) for general understanding, with the focus generally on the meaning of what
is being read than on the language. The emphasis is thus on the information content of the
text. Extensive reading is a fluency activity involving global understanding, in which the
pupils do not check every unknown word or structure.
There is one major condition for the success of an extensive reading activity: the
text must be enjoyable. The main criteria for choosing extensive reading materials are
length, appeal, variety and easiness.
The length of the text must not be intimidating. Beginners, especially, need short
texts that they can finish quickly, to avoid boredom or discouragement. The texts must be
appealing: they must look attractive, be well-printed (bigger print for elementary pupils)
and have (coloured) illustrations.
There must be a variety of texts to suit the pupils needs in terms of content,
language and intellectual development. The level of the extensive reading material must
be easier than that of the textbook used in the classroom. Otherwise, the pupils will not
read for pleasure or fluently.
An extensive reading programme is a supplementary class library scheme,
attached to an English course, in which pupils are given the time, encouragement, and
materials to read pleasurably, at their own level, as many books as they can, without the
pressure of testing or marks. Thus, the pupils are competing only against themselves, and
it is up to the teacher to provide the motivation and monitoring to ensure that the maximum
number of books is being read in the time available. The watchwords are quantity and
variety, rather than quality, so that books are selected for their attractiveness and
relevance to pupils lives, rather than for literary merit.
The following characteristics are among the most important:

Students read large amounts of material

Students usually choose what they want to read
Reading materials vary in terms of topic and genre
The material students read is within their level of comprehension
Students usually take part in post-reading activities
Teachers read with their students, thus modelling enthusiasm for reading
Teachers and students keep track of student progress

An extensive reading programme can be the most effective way of improving both
vocabulary and reading skills in general. The more reading your pupils will do, the more
skilful they become at reading as there is compelling evidence that extensive reading can
have a significant impact on learners language development. Not only can extensive
reading improve reading ability, it can also enhance learners overall language proficiency
(e.g. spelling, grammar, vocabulary, and writing). In addition, extensive reading, with its
emphasis on encouraging learners to read large amounts of meaningful language, is in
line with current principles for foreign language pedagogy. Experts now agree that some of
the most important principles include providing a rich linguistic environment, respecting
and capitalising on learners contribution to the learning process, and giving more
emphasis to fluency than to accuracy.
Which kinds of texts are suitable for intensive reading, which for
extensive reading and which for either strategy?

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The only way to become a good reader is by reading. If the average educated
native speaker can recognise about 50,000 words of the mother tongue in print, this is not
an objective that the foreign English student can reach without a great deal of reading.
Extensive reading is seen as having many advantages:

enhanced language learning in such areas as spelling, vocabulary

grammar, and text structure
increased knowledge of the world
improved reading and writing skills
greater enjoyment of reading
more positive attitude toward reading
higher possibility of developing a reading habit.

The effectiveness of extensive reading may be enhanced by such means as

students engaging in activities in which they talk and write about what they have read and
will read. This talking and writing can help make the reading more comprehensible and
may provide a means for students to infect each other with the joy of reading. Talking and
writing also push students to move from the receptive language competence needed for
reading to the more demanding productive competence required for speaking and writing.
Extensive reading differs from intensive reading.

Intensive reading

Intensive reading is reading (relatively) short texts to extract specific information.

For instance, we read poetry or legal documents intensively, focusing on the words used.
In the classroom, intensive reading is usually an accuracy activity. Students
normally work with short texts with close guidance from the teacher. The aim of intensive
reading is to help students obtain detailed meaning from the text, to develop reading skills
such as identifying main ideas and recognizing text connectors and to enhance
vocabulary and grammar knowledge. It is a way of focusing the pupils attention on
language rather than content. This kind of reading can contribute immensely to improve
the pupils language competence. However, intensive reading does not always contribute
to the development of reading skills.
Intensive and extensive reading should not be seen as being in opposition, as both
serve different but complementary purposes.

Skimming and scanning

Skimming and scanning are necessary for fast and efficient reading.
Skimming involves reading for an overall understanding of the text. The reader is
quickly running ones eyes through a text to get its essence, its general idea or gist.
Reading a few sentences, recognising a few words and expressions, a few main point(s)
and the function(s) may be enough. However, skimming involves some interpretation. For
instance, a reader may skim the review of a book to see if the reviewer thinks it is good or
bad.
Practice in skimming will show your pupils how much they can find out simply by
looking at the prominent elements of a text, by catching a few words or by reading
fragments. To train your pupils in skimming, you can remove a few sentences from a text,
or even whole paragraphs making sure those parts contain only supporting details and
ask our pupils to supply the missing parts.
Scanning is quickly going through a text to find particular information. Readers
look quickly through the text to find words that answer their specific questions. For
example, we may scan the TV times in search of a certain film, to see on what channel it is
on and when it is scheduled.
Scanning is a visual skill more than an interpretive one. When you practice
scanning in the classroom, make sure that you give your pupils clear instructions as to
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what they need to find out. For example, if you ask them to scan advertisements for ideas
on where to spend a holiday, they would need to find out about accommodation, prices,
meals, contact names and addresses, etc.
Pupils will need practice in both skimming and scanning, as it is usual to make use
of both when reading a text.
Each of the following descriptions refers to one kind of reading.
Write down the name of the kind of reading in the space provided:
a)
You read a poem and enjoy paying close attention to the
poets use of language. You do reading.
b)
You need bibliography for a research assignment and
you look quickly through the books and articles that you find in the
library to see whether they contain information you need. You do
reading.
c)
You are on holiday and you read an adventure story.
There is no pressure on you to finish the book quickly. You do
reading.
d)
While waiting for an appointment with your dentist, you
pick up a magazine and discover an article that interests you. You do
not have time to read the article in detail but you try to extract as
much information from it as you can. You do ... reading.
(after M. Parrott)

Intensive, extensive, scan and skim reading do not exclude one another. We often
skim through a text to see what it is about before deciding whether it is worth scanning for
specific information. In real life, our reading purposes constantly vary and we need various
approaches to cope with our needs. That is why your pupils need practice in different ways
of reading. Their choice of reading style will depend on the nature of the text and the
purpose they have in reading it.
It is important to give your pupils practice in different reading styles. This is
achieved not by telling them to skim, scan or read intensively but by setting tasks that
encourage these styles. It is the task which provides the pupils with a purpose and enables
them to practice and develop a style. Classroom activities should ensure practice in all
reading styles so that your pupils do not use the same strategy for all texts.

4. The Aims of a Reading Programme

In early reading instruction, the learners need to develop letter sound
correspondences. As readers process texts relatively completely read most words on a
page it means that learners should have many opportunities to encounter words, to read
predictable texts, and to reread texts to develop word-recognition skills. The need to build
a large vocabulary is developed by reading to learners, by having learners read
extensively, and by focusing attention on key vocabulary. Fluency in reading rate is
established by having learners read extensively and by practice with a combination of
timed reading, paced reading, and rapid recognition exercises, and rereading techniques.
Reading for comprehension is the primary purpose for reading; raising learner
awareness of the main ideas in a text and exploring the organisation of a text are essential
for good comprehension. As a consequence, the use of graphic representations to
highlight text organisation and to indicate the ordering of content information is an
important resource for comprehension instruction. Teachers need to model reading skills
and strategies overtly, facilitate student performance of these abilities in comprehending
texts, and provide students with many opportunities for practice.
Do pupils read in the classroom for the same reasons as people do in the real
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world? Away from the classroom, we may read

to obtain information for some purpose or because we are curious about some

topic
to obtain instructions on how to perform some task for our work or daily life
to keep in touch with our friends by correspondence
to know where and when something will take place or what is available
to know what is happening or has happened (as reported in newspapers,
magazines, reports)
for enjoyment or excitement.
Before you continue reading, try to answer these questions:
Do any of the reasons above match your classroom reading
aims?
Do your pupils need to do all these things in English?

In some reading classes, the only function the pupils can see seems to be English
has to be learnt or reading techniques have to be learnt. In such cases, the pupils
motivation is low. If your pupils see no other purpose in reading other than that you make
them do it, then reading lessons will be unsuccessful.
Some classes can focus primarily on the development of reading skills, while
others can include reading skills as part of integrative practice. Classroom reading
activities are suggested by:
The needs, interests and abilities of the pupils. You will need to emphasise
the kind of activities your pupils will encounter in English. You must ask your pupils and
yourselves what kinds of texts they read in Romanian and if the strategies and skills that
they already possess in Romanian can be transferred to English reading tasks.
The aims of the particular lesson. The reading activities should be
harmonised with the aims and the other work that is practised during the lesson.
The purpose for reading a certain text. Class activities should help your
pupils to become active decision makers and risk takers. They should become
independent readers who set their own goals and strategies for reading.
The specific characteristics of the reading text. You often have to
determine what kind of reading the text invites and develop activities and contexts that
parallel the most realistic and appropriate approaches to a given text.
Individual pupil needs. Individual pupils may require explicit instruction in
different aspects of reading: skimming, scanning, understanding organisational clues,
accessing prior knowledge, making hypotheses, etc.
Before reading on, make a list of the reading objectives you
have set for your pupils so far. Then compare them with the
objectives discussed below and think which of these you could use in
the future.

First you must decide what your pupils need to get out of their reading, select
motivating texts and set clear tasks. Sometimes the pupils have no particular interest in
reading a text because the text is not motivating. Moreover, if the task is not very clear, it
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may distract the pupils attention from the text or spoil their enjoyment.
Your purpose in teaching reading is to train your pupils to read fluently, without
help, and for their own enjoyment. Your role is to facilitate this process by selecting texts
suited to your pupils goals and interests and practising appropriate techniques. Your aims
for the reading classes should include the promotion of the sub-skills of:
1. reading texts with comprehension
2. using various reading styles
3. learning (both content and language) through reading
4. reading critically
Your aims will vary with the pupils age, interests, skills and knowledge, and the
time allotted to reading in your syllabus.
Your pupils should be able to identify the purpose and the function of a text, its
main topic and the way the topic is developed through different paragraphs. In spite of the
language problems that may arise from time to time, they should also be able to interpret
individual sentences, using techniques for dealing with unfamiliar vocabulary. Remember,
however, that not all texts need to be read for full comprehension.
Your pupils should be able to skim, scan, and read intensively and extensively,
according to their purpose. In order to develop flexible individual reading styles, you
should provide practice in a variety of text types. Many recent textbooks offer such a
variety of text types and further variety can be provided by using supplementary materials.
A common reason for reading in the classroom is to learn English. A reading text
is often used as a vehicle for presenting and practising grammatical structures and lexical
items. This is perfectly acceptable as long as both you and the pupils are aware that it is
not a reading lesson. Texts for this type of activity tend to be selected because they
provide lots of examples of a particular structure. The problem is that texts are often
artificially created round a structure, resulting in unnatural language.
While reading, your pupils will meet a great deal of new language and new
content. The pupils should be able to pick out the relevant information, evaluate arguments
and evidence, and distinguish between main points and details.
Lessons should address specifically the problems your pupils have. The following
could reasonably be lesson aims for reading lessons:
to increase pupils awareness of how a clear purpose can make reading more
effective
to present strategies for dealing with individual unfamiliar words
to increase pupils awareness of different reading styles
to provide practice in intensive reading or in scan reading
to present various aspects of British culture enabling them to make useful
predictions.
The areas of language knowledge which have an effect on pupils ability to read
effectively are usually addressed in separate lessons. The following could well be such
lesson aims:
to introduce and provide practice in collocations (e.g. nice and easy, out and
about, peace and quiet).
to provide practice in mixed conditionals focusing attention on the meaning of
each clause.
to present contrast conjunctions (e.g. though, however, although)
to present a way of dealing with unfamiliar words by breaking them down into
parts
to provide practice in recognising foregrounded information by looking at clause
orders in sentences
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If you prefer you can state your aims in a more learner-centred way:
to help the pupils increase their understanding of how they can make correct
inferences using background knowledge
to help pupils use their extensive background knowledge to make correct
inferences, etc.
to enable them to consolidate their understanding of the function of
conjunctions (e.g. however, although, though) and of their place in the
sentence.

5. Reader and Text: an Interactive Relation

Traditionally, reading was seen as a passive skill and the reader as the recipient
of information; the text was seen as an object. This viewpoint has been replaced by a text
as process one, by acknowledging the close interaction between the reader and the text.
Reading is now seen as a complex information-processing skill. Recent
approaches to reading emphasise the interactive relation of reader and text in which
meaning is created. In pedagogic terms, reading means reading and understanding.
Reading is seen as an active, purposeful process, related to problem solving. It constantly
involves the reader in guessing, hypothesising, predicting, checking and asking oneself
questions. The reader is an active participant in the reading process, co-ordinating a
number of sub-skills and strategies to facilitate comprehension.

5.1. Sub-Skills Involved in Reading

Due to its complexity, reading is often analysed into a set of component sub-skills
(both lower and higher level), and knowledge areas:

Recognition
Knowledge of the language
Knowledge of formal text structure
Content and background knowledge
Cognitive processing
Metacognitive knowledge and skills monitoring

The lower sub-skills involve rapid, precise and unconscious processing, such as
allowing readers to recognise words and grammatical forms rapidly and automatically. The
higher skills enable them to comprehend, synthesise, interpret, and evaluate the text.

Recognition sub-skills

These consist of the abilities of recognising the sounds and the script of a
language, deducing the meaning and use of unfamiliar words, understanding information
both explicitly stated and implicit.
Your pupils must be able to recognise the English script, the combinations of
letters in the spelling of words, and able to recognise words. They should not waste time
working out each word or group of words, even if they may not know all of the words in the
text they are reading.

Knowledge of the language

This means understanding conceptual meaning, the relations within the sentence,
the communicative function of sentences, the relations between the parts of a text, and
cohesion devices.
Your pupils will need strategies for dealing with unknown words. Reaching for the
dictionary is not always a good idea. Explain to your pupils they will meet three kinds of
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unknown words: key words, words which can be ignored and words that can be guessed.
The words that are not significant for a general understanding of the text can be
ignored. Key words, however, need to be understood; you either pre-teach them, or
recommend the use of a dictionary. In the third category there are words whose meanings
can be inferred from the context, and your pupils should be given practice in doing this.
They can be convinced of the value of guessing from context if you provide simple texts in
which nonsense words are used. Consider the following sentences:
a.
b.
c.

When their car broke down, the whole family had to strack home a
distance of two hundred metres in the rain.
After their walk the children were so zlopped that they needed a hot bath
and then they went straight to plenk.
The following gart they woke up feeling all right.
Can you guess what English words the above nonsensical
words replaced?

It is quite easy to guess the meanings of the nonsense words in these sentences,
and for general understanding it does not really matter whether gart is morning or day.
Discovering the meaning of unfamiliar items making use of contextual clues (syntactic,
logical and cultural) is called inferring. When you use a new text, you do not always need
to explain the difficult words and structures beforehand. You can encourage your pupils to
guess the meaning of unknown items, based on word-formation or context. Efficient
readers generally read in groups of words, without looking at everything in a given piece of
writing, and going for the overall meaning of a text.
Knowledge of text structure
This involves knowledge of how a text is organised, of the rhetorical structures and
conventions, of specific logical patterns.
Your pupils must know the language of the text they are reading: the content
words and what they mean, though perhaps not all of them. Also, they must know the
syntax and the effect of structural words, of word form, and of word order. A competent
reader of English is aware that a sentence like She shouldnt have been there at that
time cannot stand alone and must refer to a situation already mentioned in an earlier part
of the text. The identity of she must already be known and the place and time signaled by
there and at that time must have been specified already. Exercises in which pupils are
asked to search for and underline or circle cohesive pairs in a text are recommended.
It is also important to train your pupils to look first at the basic sentence pattern
(subject + verb) and then at the other elements and their contribution to sentence
meaning. To practise this, you can ask them to divide passages into sense groups and
analyse the important elements.
Another important ability is that of recognising and interpreting discourse markers,
such as then, next, after this, which show the sequence in which events occur. Other
markers, such as for example, all in all, as already noted, indicate that the writer is
exemplifying, summing up or referring to a point made previously. However and moreover,
signal that the writer is making an adjustment to a previous statement or adding further
evidence. You need to teach your pupils to recognise the various devices used to link
sentences and ideas. You may offer them exercises in recognising the function of
connectors, finding equivalents, completing texts with the missing link-words, transforming
disconnected sentences into text by joining sentences and adding connectors.
Understanding the meaning of individual sentences is important, but insufficient.
Your pupils should be able to recognise the purpose of the text as a whole, to see how it is
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organised, and to understand the relationship between sentences. They should be able to
follow the writer and see how the sentences and the paragraphs are related to each other,
and make sense of the text.

Content and background knowledge

This involves prior knowledge of content, background or culture. All readers bring
their knowledge of the world to a text: life experience, familiarity with a particular topic and
with different text types, but also knowledge of a particular culture or way of life.
Whether knowledge of the world will help your pupils to understand the text will
depend on the nature of the text and their knowledge. The cultural background of your
pupils, if different from that of the writer, may cause additional difficulties in understanding
a text. If you want your pupils to be able to read a text effectively, you have to provide such
knowledge or enable them to access it in some way before the reading. However, you do
not need to prepare your pupils for everything that they will encounter in the text. Very
often reading also means learning.
Look at this short newspaper note from The Observer, 25
March, 2001.
Blair rejects Marbles plea
Tony Blair yesterday rejected long-standing demands by
Greece for the return of the sculptures removed from the Parthenon
200 years ago. In an interview with the Athens daily To Vima he
said the Elgin Marbles belong to the British Museum which does
not intend to return any part of the collection to its country of origin.
Greece had hoped to have the pieces returned by 2004, when it will
host the Olympics.
What kind of knowledge is necessary to understand this?
You also need to encourage higher level interpretation sub-skills, as reading
involves the formulation of constant guesses or predictions that are either rejected or
confirmed later. The reading activities should cultivate the pupils ability to recognise the
purpose of the text as a whole, text organisation, and to think ahead, hypothesise and
predict text development.

Cognitive processing sub-skills

This involves hypothesising, the drawing of inferences, and the resolution of
ambiguities and uncertainties; prediction, evaluation of information, and synthesis.
Predicting is guessing based on grammatical, structural, logical and cultural clues.
Predictions are crucial in anticipation and skimming. You can train your pupils in predicting
by giving them unfinished passages to complete or by stopping after each sentence and
asking them to say what is likely to come next (e.g. What do you think will happen next?,
What do you think the next words will be? or What do you think the next sentence will be
about?) To help them, you can give three possible continuations and ask them to choose
the one they think is most likely to follow. Another idea is to remove all punctuation from a
text and ask the pupils to put it back.
Try your hand at devising prediction questions related to a
paragraph in a textbook material. Ask one question after the title and
then one question per clause, if possible. Ask as many questions as
you can. Here is a short text:
The Statue of Liberty
In the water around New York City is a very small island called
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Liberty Island. On Liberty Island there is a very special statue called

the Statue of Liberty. It is one of the most famous sights in the world.
(fragment from Folse, Keith, 1993, Intermediate Reading Practices, Ann
Arbor, p. 164)

Anticipating is inherent in the process of reading, which is a permanent dialogue

between the reader and the text. The readers usually start reading a text prepared to find
answers to their expectations. These expectations are as important as what they actually
draw from the text.
To give your pupils an incentive for reading, before starting reading a text, you can
ask them to look for answers to specific questions. You can also make them ask questions
themselves. You can use key words, the title, and the accompanying pictures to talk about
various ways in which the text may develop, e.g. Look at the pictures and guess what the
text is about.

Metacognitive knowledge and skills monitoring

This is knowledge about cognition and language, recognising text structure and
organisation, using a dictionary, taking notes, and so on. Skills monitoring involves
previewing, recognising problems with information presented in the text, adjusting
strategies.
Previewing involves the use of the table of contents, the appendix, the preface,
and the headings in order to find the information needed. It is used in skimming, scanning
and as a study skill.
Pupils need to be made aware that there is not just one way of reading as they do
not always recognise this. Their instincts are to read every reading text thoroughly and try
to understand every word. This will not improve their reading ability, because this is not the
way people read in real life.
Your first task is to persuade your pupils that there are different ways of reading
for different purposes and that they need to practise different reading techniques.
What type of processing, lower or higher level, is involved in the
following reading tasks:
1.
Choose the most suitable heading from the list A - I for
each part 1 - 7 of the text.
2.
What does it in line 12 refer to?
3.
Seven sentences have been removed from the article.
Choose from the sentences (A - H) the one which fits each gap.
4.
Read the text and take down notes under the following
headings.
5.
Choose from the list (A - H) the sentence that best
summarises each part (1 - 6) of the article.
6.
Choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits
best according to the text:
What was the dance like?
A
formal
C
informal
B
boring
D
confusing
1.
4.

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2.

5.

3.

6.

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5.2 Models of Reading: Top-Down and Bottom-Up Processes

Mircea is a conscientious student. When he is told he will be tested (),
he looks up every unknown word in the dictionary in an effort to fix the information in
his memory. Despite his extended preparations, he doesnt do well on the test,
though he says he spent hours preparing. Lia, on the other hand, excels on the
exam, but she has approached the text in a very different way. Before she reads the
chapter, she skims through it, looking at subheadings and graphics so as to give
herself a general idea of what the text will be about. As she reads, she connects the
material in the chapter to what she already knows. She frequently asks herself
questions about the text, looking back or ahead to link one part of the text to
another. When she is puzzled by the content, she searches for clues in the context,
tries to paraphrase, or considers what she knows about the text structure. In short,
Lia is reading like an expert, while Mircea is relying on just one technique. The
difference between the two is in their use of reading strategies. (Joy Janzen, 287)

Reading strategies are plans for solving problems encountered in constructing

meaning (Duffy, 1993, p. 232). They range from bottom-up vocabulary strategies, such as
looking up an unknown word in the dictionary, to more comprehensive actions, such as
connecting what is being read to the readers background knowledge. Research has
demonstrated that strategy use is different in more proficient and less proficient readers.
More proficient readers use different types of strategies, and they use them in different
ways.
The top-down model recommends that readers should start with the global
understanding and move towards details rather than the other way round. This means that
you need to offer your pupils relatively little practice in intensive reading and a lot of
practice in anticipating the content of texts, guessing, increasing reading speed, and
practice in skimming.
Thus, when constructing or using comprehension exercises on a given text, it is
preferable to start with the overall meaning of a text, its function(s) and aim rather than
working on specific details or vocabulary. The activities that help the pupils in gaining or
accessing background knowledge also facilitate top-down processing. Among these there
are pre-reading discussions, reading within a topic area, extensive reading, and sustained
silent reading. All these involve the pupils in reading large amounts of text for general
comprehension.

Procedures for developing top down reading skills

If you want to apply a top-down reading approach, you can choose from among
several procedures:

present typical text patterns (e.g. a typical essay paragraph pattern is Topic
- Restriction Illustration; a typical advertisement pattern is Problem Solution
Evaluation)

while pupils read topic sentence or introduction, help them to predict what
might come next

ask pupils to use white correction fluid to cancel unfamiliar words - this may
help them to work out the approximate meaning from context.

help pupils to predict next utterance, word or phrase by referring them to

discourse markers: not only... helps predict but also.., and another thing helps
predict additional information, opinions, etc. or referring them to grammar markers:
e.g. When I got home I discovered... helps predict the past perfect.
However, the importance of lower-level processes should not be underestimated,
as fluency of reading is especially important. Less proficient readers often have difficulty in
recognising the English words rapidly and accurately and spend their time attending to the
graphic form. Knowledge of syntax and vocabulary is also critical.
It seems that below a certain language proficiency threshold in English, it is
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unrealistic to expect your pupils to be able to transfer and use effectively the reading
comprehension processes they use in Romanian. Language plays a critical role in reading
abilities, and reading is fundamentally a balanced language and thinking process.

Procedures for developing bottom-up reading skills

These procedures fall into two main categories: a) helping pupils to cope with
unfamiliar vocabulary and b) helping them develop text analysis skills.
a) developing vocabulary decoding skills

teach suffixes and prefixes and ask your pupils to work out the meanings of
unfamiliar words with such suffixes and prefixes

help your pupils recognise words families by getting them to complete word
grids:

noun
description

adjective
descriptive
suggestive

verb
describe
persuade

present compound words and ways of guessing their meanings from

components (e.g. bus ride, hairband, lipstick, etc.)
b) developing recognition of text features

present grammatical reference words and show how they refer backwards
and forwards to other words and phrases in the text (e.g. personal pronouns,
demonstratives)

do the same with typical lexical reference words. for example, you can put a
circle around a lexical reference word and show, with an arrow, what it refers to

present linking words (e.g. if, so, because, though, etc.)

ask your pupils to put together a text whose paragraphs have been
scrambled, discussing why they have made their decisions.
You should engage your pupils in activities that combine top-down and bottom-up
strategies in reading. In practice this means discussing the topic of a text before asking
your pupils to read it, arousing expectations, and eliciting connections between references
in the text and situations known to the pupils.
Fluency in reading requires skill in both top-down and bottom-up processing.
Fluent readers employ lower and higher level reading sub-skills simultaneously. They
possess a large receptive vocabulary and knowledge of syntactic and rhetorical structure.
They interact with the text to create meaning. They approach it with prior knowledge (of
what the text is, of what they expect it to mean, of how it is to be read) and cognitive skills,
combined in developing predictions about its content and development. While reading,
fluent readers may re-read fragments of the text rapidly to confirm or reject these
predictions. If the predictions are confirmed, they continue reading with an increasing store
of information on the topic. If the predictions are not confirmed, the readers return and reread more carefully.

6. Reader Response
To make your pupils active in the reading process, you will have to ask for a
response from them. Their response can be either linguistic or non-linguistic.

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Linguistic responses

Linguistic responses can come in the form of answers to comprehension

questions. These can take a variety of forms: yes/no, true or false, multiple choice, grids or
charts to be completed, and open-ended questions. Answering comprehension questions
orally round the class is a very common technique used for developing reading
comprehension. A variety of different question forms will enable your pupils to use their
different skills in appropriate ways.
An alternative way of using questions is to ask the pupils to think up and ask the
questions themselves. Their questions will show their current understanding of the text,
their current perception of what is difficult and important in it. This understanding will
change and develop as they continue reading.
Asking questions may be not always a very successful activity for large classes.
As (usually) only one pupil answers a question, the rest of the class does not need to pay
attention. Thus, it may be difficult for you to see whether your pupils have really
understood a text. To maximize the pupils participation, you can divide the class into
groups and give each group a different fragment to read. In their groups the pupils discuss
their interpretations and then compose the questions they want another group to answer.
The questions do not need to have only one answer. When they have completed their
discussion and agreed on the questions, the pupils pass the fragment and their questions
to another group to answer. Thus they try out possible solutions to the problems they
identify in the text. They can call you in when they need you. Such an activity requires
repeated readings of the text and stresses the process of understanding. Also, listening,
speaking, and writing are naturally integrated in such class interaction.

Non-linguistic responses

Many activities that do not involve verbal responses can also prove your pupils
understanding of the text:
comparing text and image by matching passages of the text and diagrams;
rendering the information into the form of a diagram;
performing an action, finding a solution, making a decision using the
information from the text.
What other things can your pupils do with the information from a
text to prove their understanding of it?

Procedures for encouraging response to a reading text

1. Give your pupils a set of comments (What rubbish! That's interesting, I didnt
know that, etc.). The pupils have to write the comments in the margin while
they are reading.
2. Give them a set of headings which they must apply to appropriate paragraphs.
3. Give them a set of sentences which they must fit into the text at appropriate
places.
4. Ask them to invent their own paragraph headings and their own sentences for
insertion.
5. Get them to role-play author and reader: give the reader a set of questions;
the author has to re-read the text and try to reply. (e.g. When you wrote... ...,
did you mean or ?)
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7. Reading in English vs. Reading in Romanian

There are both similarities and differences between reading in a foreign language
and reading in the mother tongue. The differences concern the acquisition of the
respective foreign language, the training background, language processing and social
context. For instance, most foreign pupils who study English, begin reading in English with
different knowledge from native readers. Before they begin reading in school, English
children already have a large vocabulary store (5,000 to 7,000 words) and a good intuitive
sense of the grammar. The typical Romanian children who learn to read in English have
not yet learnt a lot of vocabulary, nor have they acquired a complete sense of the grammar
of English 1. However, a number of useful sub-skills which can be transferred from L1 to L2
reading:

Letter-sound correspondences for beginning reading and the transfer of a few

correspondences from Romanian to English
Word recognition and the processing of words in a text
Recognition of vocabulary
Reading rates for processing
Graphic representations for comprehension instruction
Value of extensive reading

The differences between the L1 and L2 and between L1 and L2 reading instruction
explain why the pupils encounter many difficulties caused by language processing
differences. Transfer effects, as in the case of false friends (e.g. library, terrible, sensible,
etc) can influence vocabulary recognition. Orthographic differences, unfamiliar syntactic
structures, word order, and other structural differences between English and Romanian
mislead your pupils, particularly beginners. The pupils incomplete knowledge of the
language may cause serious difficulty with some texts. In fact, a fundamental difference
between the native readers and the foreign readers is that the former use the language to
help them read, whereas the latter use reading to learn the language.
What are, in your opinion, the advantages of your pupils over
the native readers of English as far as learning reading is
concerned?

Research on foreign language reading has provided a number of insights for

reading development and instruction, which make reading in L2 different from reading in
L1:
The importance of discourse structure and graphic representations
The importance of vocabulary in language learning
The need for language awareness and attending to language and genre
form
The existence of a foreign language threshold in reading
The importance of metacognitive awareness and strategy learning
The need for extensive reading
The benefits of integrating reading and writing
The importance of Content-Based Instruction (CLIL)

See also section Difficulties Related to Reading in a Foreign Language.

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8. The Three-Phase Approach to Reading Activities

R. White suggests three stages and a general procedure for a reading lesson: he
recommends the use of pre-, while- and post-reading activities. The procedure relies on
the pupils knowledge of language and knowledge of the world and uses this as a basis for
involvement, motivation, and progress. It also leads to the integration of language skills.
Pre-reading activities are meant to introduce and arouse interest in the topic, to
motivate the pupils by giving them a reason for reading and to provide some language
preparation for the text. In real life, we usually have a purpose in reading: something we
want to find out, to check or clarify. We also have a purpose in reading when we read
stories for pleasure: we want to find out how the story develops, what happens next.
Moreover, we always have some idea of what we are going to read about and as we read
we address the writer questions in our mind. Based on these, we may be able to make a
number of predictions or guesses. Headlines, chapter headings or book titles often make
us think about the text before we begin to read.
In the classroom, it is important to give the pupils some reason for reading or
problems they want to find the answer to. These may consist in questions for them to think
about as they read. (The answers will be discussed afterwards.) These questions are
called guiding / signpost questions: e.g. What would you like to know about? Write
down at least five questions, which you hope the text will answer or You are going to
read a text about. Here are some words and phrases from the text. Can you guess how
they are used in the text?
Another type of pre-reading activity may be true / false questions: the pupils are
given sentences that refer to the text, and they guess whether they are true or false.
Alternatively, they are given a summary of the text with gaps; their task is to guess what
words should go in the gaps. They may also be given the topic of the text and may be
asked to write a list of things they know and things they do not know about the topic. If the
text puts forward an opinion, the pupils discuss the topic beforehand and give their own
point of view.
Although you are not supposed to teach every word or structure in the text that
you think your pupils are not familiar with, you should ensure that your pupils would be
able to do the text tasks without being hindered by language difficulties. On the other
hand, language preparation can be carried out by the pupils themselves.
The use of visuals, such as photographs, maps, diagrams, the drawing up of lists,
and the setting or answering of questions (oral or written) may all be part of pre-reading.
While-reading activities usually start from a general understanding of the text, and
then move to smaller units: paragraphs, sentences and words. The larger units provide a
context for the smaller ones. The activities aim at helping the pupils understand the writers
purpose, text structure and content.
The traditional comprehension questions, placed either at the end, at the
beginning or inserted at various points within the text, are a typical example of a whilereading activity. Completing diagrams or maps, making lists, taking notes are other types
of while-reading work.
Post-reading activities enable the pupils to consolidate and reflect upon their
reading and to relate it to their own knowledge, interests, or views. Post-reading activities
may deal with reactions to the text and to the while-reading work. The pupils may be asked
to say whether they liked the text and the activities or not, or whether they found them
useful or not. Other post-reading activities are:

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writing an outline of a paragraph or longer text;

drawing a list of main ideas from the text and then working individually or in
pairs to locate supporting details;
matching, in pair or group work, a column with main ideas from a passage with
a column of details;
19

underlining generalisations and supporting details or creating topic sentences

for portions of the text;
determining the function of each sentence in a paragraph or longer text
(stating a generalization, supporting it, catching and holding the readers
attention, etc.);
choosing a main idea (or best title) for a passage from among several choices,
or creating one on their own;
doing a jigsaw reading in which the pupils are given different parts of a text,
and working together to create a logical sequence. Each pupil is given a
sentence or a passage from a text and they have to look for significant details
that will give them clues to the development of the whole text. Using these text
indicators (referring either back to something mentioned before or announcing
something to come), each pupil has to interact with the others until they find
out where their passage belongs in the text;
role-play a story;
design a poster to advertise the text/the book;
read interesting/exciting/well-written parts aloud;
copy interesting words and useful expressions into a notebook;
write a letter to the author
share views about the text / the book with a small group of classmates.

Exploring the relationship of ideas in a text can be carried out at almost any
proficiency level. Beginners can develop semantic maps that are entirely schematic,
containing basic words or no writing, with pictures. Here is an example of such a semantic
map, drawn around the concept of house:
paper
work

grass

desk

tree
play

garden
vegetable

eat

flower

chair

table
bed

HOUSE
kitchen

wall
room

roof
door

bathroom

bedroom

chimney

sitting-room

Tasks addressed to more advanced pupils are more sophisticated. They are
usually based on complex thinking and engage the pupils with the language in different
ways. Both texts and tasks approximate more closely to the kind of texts and tasks that the
pupils tackle in Romanian. The tasks involve longer, multi-stage, integrative activities,
entailing extended speaking, listening and writing. Some pieces of writing demand a
personal response such as interpretation, application to other contexts, criticism or
evaluation.

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In which of the three phases, pre-reading, while-reading or

post-reading, would you use the following activities:
1. Do-it-yourself questions: the pupils compose and answer
their own questions.

2. Responding: the text is a letter or a provocative article; the

pupils discuss how they would respond, or write an answer.

3. Signpost questions: a general question is given before

reading, asking the pupils to find out information central to the
understanding of the text.

4. Continue: if the text is a story; the pupils are asked to

suggest what might happen next.

5. Provide a title: the pupils suggest a title or an alternative

title.

6. Summarise: the pupils summarise the content in a sentence

or two (in English or Romanian).
.
7. Preface: if the text is a story; the pupils are asked to
suggest what might have happened before.

8. Mistakes in the text: the text has, towards the end,

occasional mistakes (such as wrong words or omissions). The pupils
are told in advance how many mistakes to look for.

9. Comparison: there are two texts on a similar topic; the

pupils note points of similarity or difference of content.

10. Gapped text: towards the end of the text, 4-5 gaps are left
that can only be filled in if the text has been understood.

11. Re-presentation of content: the text gives information or

tells a story; the pupils re-present its content through a drawing that
illustrates the text, colouring, marking a map, lists of events or items
described in the text, a diagram grid or flowchart indicating
relationships between items, characters or events.

(after Penny Ur, 1996, A Course in Language Teaching, Practice and Theory,
CUP)

The three-phase approach should not be carried out mechanically on every

occasion. Sometimes you may wish to get your pupils to work on the text directly. At other
times post-reading activities may not be suitable.

Summary
As a foreign language skill, reading is very important; in fact, one may argue that it
is the most important, especially for those pupils who may never actually have to speak
English. However, in the regular classroom reading should not be separated from the other
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21

skills, since in real life there are few cases when reading is not linked to these.
The unit offers a classification of reading texts and refers to the importance of
some text characteristics for efficient reading. A number of reading styles are described,
while the idea that the purpose of reading determines the reading style chosen is
underlined. Formulations of aims for reading activities and types of reading activities that
cultivate various reading sub-skills are also suggested.

Further Reading
Grabe, William. 2002. Dilemmas for the Development of Second Language Reading
Abilities in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002. Methodology in
Language Teaching. pp. 276 286. Cambridge: CUP.
Grellet, Franoise, 1981, Developing Reading Skills, CUP
Janzen, Joy. Teaching Strategic Reading in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A.,
2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. pp. 287 294. Cambridge: CUP.
Nuttall, Christine, 1982, Teaching Reading Skills in Foreign Language, Heinemann
Renandya, W.A. and Jacobs, G.M. Extensive Reading: Why Arent We All Doing It? in
Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A. 2002. Methodology in Language
Teaching. pp. 295 302. Cambridge: CUP.
Richards, Jack C. and Renandya, Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: CUP.
Silberstein, Sandra. 1993, Techniques and Resources in Teaching Reading, OUP

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Catedra de Limba i Literatura englez

EFL Methodology year II English majors

DEVELOPING WRITING SKILLS

The traditional ordering of the four skills speaking, listening, reading, writing
reflects both a general belief about the natural order of skill acquisition and one about
instructional priorities. Of the four skills, writing seems to be the odd one out. All children
learn to understand and speak their mother tongue, and school ensures that most people
grow up able to read. If we think only of the pupils long-term needs, writing is probably the
least important of the four skills. Only a few might be expected to need any extensive writing
in either Romanian or English.
There is no doubt that writing is the most difficult skill for L2 learners and that only a
few succeed in mastering it. The difficulty lies not only in generating and organizing ideas, but
also in translating these ideas into readable text. However, through the mastery of writing, an
individual comes to be fully effective in intellectual organization and in the expression of ideas
and arguments. Actually, the pupils need for writing is most likely to be for study purposes
and also as an examination skill. At the purely practical level, good, clear writing leads to
school success.
The skills involved in writing are highly complex. Learners need to pay attention to
higher level skills of planning and organizing as well as lower level skills of spelling,
punctuation, word choice, and so on. The difficulty becomes even more pronounced if their
language proficiency is weak. Teaching writing involves guiding in analysing and developing
thinking, in shaping and organising it into central and subordinate ideas, in developing a line
of thought and carrying it to the reader. At elementary and intermediate level, writing helps
pupils to think and to learn. Writing new words and structures helps pupils to remember them,
as writing is done more slowly and carefully than speaking. That is why written practice helps
the pupils to focus their attention on what they are learning.
Many English teachers feel that the development of writing skills represents an
unrealistic goal for their pupils as most of them are still struggling to acquire this skill in
Romanian. Writing, in general, is a difficult skill to master, requiring long practice. Writing in
English will create even bigger problems. And yet, in the English classroom, a writing
exercise may help to reinforce oral work, to confirm understanding of a reading text, to
demonstrate awareness of English, as well as to provide a welcome change of pace in a
lesson.
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

set up, apply and monitor a variety of interactive classroom writing tasks
offer a theoretical justification for each of these tasks
integrate writing activities with the development of one or more of other skills
identify the various sub-skills involved in the writing process
select and apply appropriate classroom activities to develop these sub-skills
assess the learning outcomes of specific writing activities.

Key Concepts: genre, writing sub-skills, cohesion, coherence, text-based

approach, process approach, communicative approach, audience, form and content, peer
correction, self-correction

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Developing Writing Competence: Writing Sub-Skills

Writing refers to several sub-skills: putting words on paper, making sentences and
linking them in paragraphs, writing a poem, developing an essay, and many others. Nunan
(1989) notes that writing involves:

mastering the mechanics of letter formation

mastering and obeying conventions of spelling and punctuation

using the grammatical system to convey ones intended meaning

organising content at the level of the paragraph and the complete text to reflect
new/given information and topic/comment structures

polishing and revising ones initial efforts

selecting an appropriate style for ones audience.

The first three of these are sentence-level skills; spelling, punctuation and
grammatical accuracy all receive regular attention from teachers. However, sometimes it
appears that these are the only things considered worthy of attention. The pupils failure to
produce good creative writing suggests that paying attention to just these three aspects of
the writing process is not enough.
The last three items are text and discourse-level skills and usually do not receive
much attention. When they do, it is often in the form of red-pen comments on returned
essays, such as badly organised or essay lacks shape. Section 7.4 considers the effects
of this kind of feedback.
Sometimes pupils lose their meaning in the process of writing because they have a
simplistic view of their task, or they see their writing as definitive from the beginning, except
for minor alterations of form. The ideas themselves should be seen as the most important
aspect of the writing. On the other hand, pupils need to pay attention to formal aspects:
handwriting, spelling, punctuation, grammar and vocabulary, etc.
Writing is difficult as it involves the development and co-ordination of cognitive and
conceptual sub-skills, including:
Knowledge of the language system
Pupils should have knowledge of those aspects of the language system (vocabulary,
grammar) necessary for the completion of the task. They should also be able to organize
texts appropriately in order to do particular jobs.
Knowledge of the genre
Teaching writing means teaching pupils to recognize the genre in which they are
writing, and the grammatical and lexical choices that need to be made in order to match the
text to the writing purpose. This includes knowledge of:
a) content: knowledge of the concepts involved in the subject area;
b) context: knowledge of the context in which the text will be read, including the
readers expectations.
For instance, learners need to realize the importance of framing the beginning of a
text rather than jump in and so become increasingly aware of the readers needs. They also
have to learn that for both descriptive and persuasive texts, it is necessary to view the task
from a perspective other than their own. In the descriptive task, they have to consider and
recognize features that would help someone visualize an object without seeing it. In the
persuasive text, they have to realize the need to anticipate an argument and generalize
reasons that support their stand.
Knowledge of the writing process
Pupils also need knowledge of the effective way of preparing for a writing task:
planning, drafting, reviewing, editing, etc.
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Writing requires more correctness of expression and higher standards of language

than speech. Luckily, the slow and reflective nature of the process of writing enables the
writer to devote more time and attention to formal aspects during the process of writing.

Writing to Learn and Learning to Write

Writing to learn
Writing is widely used in the English classes as a means of engaging the pupils with
other language skills. The pupils note down new vocabulary, copy out grammar rules, write
out answers to reading or listening comprehension questions, do written tests. In these
activities, writing is mainly a means of getting the pupils to practise a particular language
point, or as a convenient method of testing it.
Which of the following kinds of text do you think your pupils would
need in Romanian and which in English?
advertisement, essay, filling in a form, letter to the manager, letter to
a newspaper, letter to mother/father, note about a telephone message,
newspaper article, poem, pop song lyric, postcard, report, shopping list,
story, Ph.D. thesis.
Learning to write
Other activities have as main objective writing itself. These practise written forms
either at the level of word or sentence or at the level of content and organization. The pupils
have to express themselves using their own words. They have to state a purpose for writing,
and often to specify a readership. Examples of such activities include narrating a story,
writing a letter or a report.
Some activities combine purposeful and original writing with the learning or practice of
some other skill or content. For example, a written response to the reading of a text will
combine writing with reading. A task which provides little or no practice for the pupils to
extend their knowledge of appropriate content or context or to raise their awareness about
the writing process is not really a writing task but a general learning task using writing.
Writing in Romanian and Writing in English
You may have already noticed thst pupils progress in language complexity much
faster in English than in Romanian. They understand easily that some of the structural
differences observed between speech and writing in Romanian are similar in English, and
consequently attempt the same kind of language adjustments when they write in English.
They realise quickly that the manner in which sentences grow in complexity is similar in
Romanian and English: simple sentences are joined first through coordination, then
subordination, and finally clause reduction.
However, there are some features of written language that may cause major
problems to your pupils as they may differ from those of Romanian. These operate above the
level of the sentence: layout and physical organization on the page, text organization
determined by the social function the text fulfils, relationships between clauses and clause
complexes. That is why your pupils may benefit from an explicit understanding of how these
work.
For the Romanian student of English, many writing conventions will remain a mystery
unless teachers are able to bring the forms and patterns of language use to conscious
awareness. However, many English tests will evaluate their control of text organisation,
sentence structure, etc. By providing learners with the language to talk about texts, they can
better understand how to make a piece of writing more effective and appropriate to the
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communicative purpose. This also helps them increase their writing skills and become more
efective during peer editing and revision.
In writing English, which appears to create more
difficulties to you, cohesion or coherence?

Approaches to Writing

There are two main ways of approaching writing: focusing on the product or on the
writer. These perspectives have determined major approaches on the teaching of writing.
The focus on the product gave birth to the traditional text-based approach. The
teachers using this perspective often present model texts, usually given in textbooks, for the
pupils to imitate or adapt. They believe their role is to cultivate conformity to models, and
accuracy rather than fluency. They see mistakes as something they have to correct and
eliminate. In this approach, the pupils write variations first on sentences, then on paragraphs,
then on very controlled compositions, and finally, at an advanced level, they work on free
composition.
Examine one of the textbooks in use.
a) What writing activities suggested in these textbooks give the
pupils the opportunity to be creative and original?
b) Find examples of activities which begin with an example text
or samples of language that the pupils have to imitate or incorporate into
their own writing.

3.1 The Process Approach

Traditionally, the teacher has been more concerned with the finished product than
with the way it has been created. The text-based approach is based on the notion that pupils
need to produce accurate pieces of writing. Over the past few years, however, interest has
swung from the product of writing to the actual writing process itself. It has become apparent
that if the teachers first concern is that an essay or story should be grammatically correct,
then this will be reflected in pupil attitude and behaviour. Firstly, pupils will regard essay
writing not as opportunity to express their views on a variety of topics, but as a long
grammatical exercise. What they actually write about will be a minor consideration. Secondly,
pupils will play safe. They will choose simple things to say to avoid the risk of error. The
result will be reasonably correct essays that say nothing.
However, the whole purpose of creative writing is to say something worth paying
attention to. While not totally rejecting this earlier system, the current trend is to place
emphasis on the process of writing and the writer. This approach lays stress on the activities
which move the pupil from the generation of ideas and collection of data to the production
and publication of the text. It emphasises the writing process over the product, with
recognition of the recursiveness of the process and the encouragement of exploration of
topics through writing.
The writing process may be broadly seen as comprising four main stages: planning,
drafting, revising and editing. The stages are neither sequential nor orderly, as many writers
employ a recursive, non-linear approach, as writing a draft may be interrupted by more
planning, and revision may lead to reformulation, with a great deal of recycling to earlier
stages.
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PROCESS ACTIVATED

PROCESS TERMINATED

Planning

Drafting

Editing

Revising
Fig. 1 The Writing Process (Seow A, p. 315

Process writing as a classroom activity incorporates the four basic writing stages
planning, drafting (writing), revising (redrafting) and editing and three other stages
externally imposed on students by the teacher: responding (sharing), evaluating and postwriting. Process writing is highly structured as it necessitates the orderly teaching of process
skills.
It is now recognised that pupils not only need help throughout the writing process, but
that creative writing in the classroom is a shared activity. This kind of thinking has resulted in
much more attention being paid to the pre-writing stage.
Planning
Planning (pre-writing) encourages students to write. It stimulates thoughts for getting
started. It moves students toward generating tentative ideas and gathering information for
writing. The following activities provide the learning experiences for students at this stage:
Group brainstorming.
Clustering. Students form words related to a stimulus supplied by the teacher. The
words are circled and then linked by lines to show clusters. The visual character of
the activity stimulates the flow of associations.
Rapid free writing. Within a limited time of 1 or 2 minutes, individual students freely
and quickly write down single words and phrases about a topic. Rapid freewriting
is done when group brainstorming is not possible or because of the personal
nature of a certain topic.
Wh-questions. Students generate who, why, what, where, when and how
questions about a topic. or such questions can be asked of answers to the first
string of wh-questions, and so on. This can go on indefinitely.
Drafting
Once sufficient ideas are gathered at the planning stage, the first attempt at writing
drafting may proceed quickly. At this stage, the writers are focused on the fluency of writing
and are not preoccupied with grammatical accuracy or the neatness of the draft. One
dimension of good writing is the writers ability to visualise an audience. Although writing in
the classroom is almost always for the teacher, the students may also be encouraged to write
for different audiences (their peers, other classmates, pen-friends, or family members). A
sense of audience will dictate a certain style to be used.
Students should also have in mind a central idea that they want to communicate to
the audience in order to give direction to their writing.
Depending on the genre of writing (narrative, expository or argumentative), an
introduction to the subject of writing may be a startling statement to arrest the readers
attention, a short summary of the rest of the writing, and apt quotation, a provocative
question, a general statement, an analogy, a statement of purpose, and so on. Such a
strategy may provide the lead at the drafting stage.

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Responding
Responding to student writing by the teacher (or by peers) has a central role to play in
the successful implementation of process writing. Responding intervenes between drafting
and revising. It is the teachers quick initial reaction to students drafts. Response can be oral
or in writing, after the students have produced the first draft and just before they proceed to
revise.
The failure of many writing activities in schools may be ascribed to the fact that
responding is done in the final stage when the teacher simultaneously responds and
evaluates, and even edits students finished texts, thus giving students the impression that
nothing more needs to be done.
Text-specific responses in the form of helpful suggestions and questions will hale
students rediscover meanings and facilitate the revision of initial drafts. Such responses can
be provided in the margin, between sentence lines or at the end of students texts. Peer
responding can be effectively carried out by having students respond to each others texts in
small groups or in pairs, with the aid of a checklist.
Responding checklist

What is the greatest strength of this composition/essay, etc?

What is its greatest weakness?
What is the central idea?
Which are the ideas that need more elaboration?
Where should more details or examples be added? Why?
What are some of the questions that the writer has not answered?
At which point does this composition fail to hold the readers interest? Why?
Where is the organisation confusing?
Where is the writing unclear or vague?
(after Seow A., 318)

Revising
Comments and discussion may follow after a second draft is attempted, and so on.
The pupils need to be assured that the final product is not the only thing to be judged. Praise
for the first draft, and praise, advice and suggestions throughout the writing process are very
important.
If you accept that for teaching purposes at least, the process of writing is more
significant than the final product, then it follows that pupils need to be given enough time to
produce their essay. If it is a race against time, then few of the above procedures can be
applied.
Much of the teaching of writing comes at the first draft stage. Very little can be taught
after the final version has been submitted. That is why you need to sit with your pupils and
discuss the first drafts, be appreciative of good ideas, and make suggestions for general
improvements in structure.
When students revise, they review their texts on the basis of the feedback given in
the responding stage. They re-examine what was written to see how effectively they have
communicated their meaning to the reader. Revising is not merely checking for language
errors (i.e. editing). It is done to improve global content and the organisation of ideas so that
the writers intent is made clearer to the reader.
Revising can be done in pairs, with the students reading aloud each others drafts
before they revise. As students listen intently to their own writing, they are brought to a more
conscious level of rethinking and re-seeing what they have written.
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Editing
At this stage, students are engaged in tidying up their texts as they prepare the final
draft foe evaluation by the teacher. They edit their own or their peers work for grammar,
spelling, punctuation, diction, sentence structure and accuracy of supportive textual material
such as quotations, examples and the like. Formal editing is deferred till this phase in order
that its application not disrupt the free flow of ideas during the drafting and revising stages. A
simple checklist might be issued to student to alert them to some of the common surface
errors found in students writing. For instance:

Have you used your verbs in the correct tense?

Are the verb forms correct?
Have you checked for subject verb agreement?
Have you used the correct prepositions?
Have you left out the articles where they are required?
Have you used all your pronouns correctly?
Is your choice of adjectives and adverbs appropriate?
Have you written in complete sentences?
(After Seow, A., p. 318 319)

The students are, however, not always expected to know where and how to correct
every error, but editing to the best of their ability should be done as a matter of course, prior
to submitting their work for evaluation each time. Editing within process writing is meaningful
because students can see the connection between such an exercise and their own writing in
that correction is not done for its own sake but as part of the process of making
communication as clear and unambiguous as possible to an audience.
Evaluating
Very often teachers compress responding, editing and evaluating into one. This
deprives students of the vital link between drafting and revision (that is, responding) which
often makes a big difference.
In evaluating student writing, the scoring may be analytical (i.e., based on specific
aspects of writing ability) or holistic (i.e., based on a global interpretation of the effectiveness
of that piece of writing). In order to be effective, the criteria for evaluation should be made
known to students in advance. They should include the overall interpretation of the task,
sense of audience, relevance, development and organisation of ideas, format or layout,
grammar and structure, spelling and punctuation, range and appropriateness of vocabulary,
and clarity of communication. Depending on the purpose of evaluation, a numerical score or
grade may be assigned. Students may be encouraged to evaluate their own and each others
texts once they have been properly taught how to do it. In this way, they are made more
responsible for their own writing.
Post-writing
Post writing constitutes any classroom activity that the teacher and students can do
with the completed pieces of writing. This includes publishing, sharing, reading aloud,
transforming texts for stage performances, or merely displaying texts on notice-boards. The
post-writing stage is a platform for recognising students work as important and worthwhile.
Scrivener (1994) proposes at least nine stages of preparation before the final draft of
a piece of creative writing is produced:

Introduction of topic. Group discussion. Clarification of main writing task.

Consideration of audience for the final text. Consideration of specific requirements style,
information, layout, etc. Consideration of likely difficulties and problems.

Initial individual or group brainstorming,

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Selection and rejection of ideas,

Sorting and ordering of ideas note-making,
Focus on useful language models,
Small group or class construct of a preliminary skeleton or example text,
Individual or group preparation of draft text,
Discussion with others and with teacher,
Individual or group preparation of final draft.

3.2 Implementing Process Writing

Teacher modelling
Teachers should model the writing process at every stage and teach specific writing
strategies to students through meaningful classroom activities.
Relating process to product
It is vital that as students go through various stages of writing and elaborate various
drafts, they understand what kind of product is expected at each stage. Thus students need
to be guided to set and achieve specific writing goals at every stage.
Working within institutional constraints
It is possible to teach some process skills appropriate to a writing stage within a twoperiod composition lesson. The teaching of the same process skill could be repeated in
subsequent composition lessons. Process skills can be systematically taught each time until
the entire series of such skills is developed over a period of time.
Catering to diverse student needs
The teacher will need to know what the individual student knows and work from there,
implementing a flexible programme to cater to different student needs. The teacher may also
decide to have students enter into different writing groups as planners, drafters, responders,
revisers or editors during a writing session.
Exploiting the use of computers in process writing
Many word-processing programmes are user-friendly enough for students to handle.
Their direct application to process writing, especially for the purposes of drafting, revising and
editing, is rewarding for both the teacher and the students. The teacher can teach responding
or editing skills via the computer hooked on to an overhead projector. The students can freely
make any number of changes to their texts by deleting words or moving them around without
having to retype large chunks of text all over again. Any work can be saved on the computer
for revision later.

3.3

The Text-Based Approach

This approach is also called the controlled-to-free approach, as depending on the

degree of freedom the pupils are allowed, the writing activities used are characterized as
controlled, guided and free.
There has been much argument about whether pupils should be allowed to engage in
free writing from the start, or whether they should be led gradually into it. Some argue that, if
writing is about expressing ones views, then pupils should be allowed a free rein. Others feel
that strict control should be maintained until the pupils can produce error-free sentences.
There is little doubt that, unless the pupils can produce syntactically acceptable
sentences, their creative writing will not be very coherent. It seems fair to assume that some
kind of sentence-level guidance will be necessary for many pupils at some stage. However,
you cannot suume that sentence-level skills will be automatically transferred to creative
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writing. Further guidance, in the form of models, may be needed. You may therefore wish to
consider several stages in preparing pupils for free writing. Raimes (1989) proposes five
types of controlled writing: controlled composition, question and answer, guided composition,
parallel writing and sentence combining.
Controlled writing
Controlled writing activities provide both content and form. The pupils are not asked
to create anything. You give them a passage and ask them to make alterations to it. These
alterations are normally grammatical. For example, you may ask them to re-write a passage
about a single child so that it becomes a passage about several children, to re-write a direct
speech text in reported speech, or to re-write a present tense passage in the past simple.
Other activities include copying, gap-filling, re-ordering words, substitution (e.g. If he
stayed/left/spoke they would disagree with him), correct the facts (e.g. re-write the sentences
so that they match a picture), and dictation. They are typically used with beginners and the
objective of this kind of activities is that pupils make as few mistakes as possible. This
explains why in all these activities the pupils have to add little if anything of their own.
These activities can be made more meaningful and interesting, still remaining very
controlled, if the pupils are given a chance to think what they are writing. For instance,
copying is completely mechanical when they are asked to copy a string of words: a sentence
that they do not understand. In this case, their attention is focused only on spelling. But
copying may become more meaningful if the pupils can contribute something to the text.
Part(s) of the sentence can be left out for the pupils to write themselves. The teacher may
write the sentence outline on the board, (e.g. they home afternoon), say the whole
sentence and ask the pupils to write what they heard. You can also show or draw a picture to
replace part(s) of the sentence. Alternatively, you may write the sentence on the board, and
ask your pupils to write a similar true sentence about themselves.
Another extremely restricting activity, gap-filling, can become more involving and
challenging if the pupils are given the opportunity to choose between alternatives given in
brackets.
Without real comprehension, dictation is also a mechanical activity, restricted to
practising spelling. If done traditionally, you read a text once through and then dictate it
phrase by phrase. Then the text is read through once again. Even done this way, dictation
cannot be denied a number of advantages: it is an intensive activity which helps to develop
both listening and writing, requires concentration, and can be done with large classes.
What are, in your opinion, the disadvantages of dictation?

An alternative to traditional dictation is the dictocomp (a combination of dictation and

composition), which develops both listening and writing skills and focuses on meaning. The
dictocomp is not exclusively controlled writing, as it requires not only careful listening and
accurate spelling but also thinking. The pupils listen to a text, jot down notes and then try to
reconstruct the original from notes or from given prompts. They need to understand the text,
think about its content and how to reproduce it, and how to construct the sentences. The
dictocomp can be used with pupils at all levels, provided the original text chosen is
challenging enough.
Questions and answers
A question and answer procedure continues your control over what is produced but
allows the pupils a little more freedom. The text emerges from the answers produced by the
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pupils to questions asked by you. The questions may be based on a set of notes or a picture.
A picture sequence can be used to make the task a little more interesting.

example

picture 1: Classroom. Children studying. One boy with thought cloud

above his head to show he is dreaming of playing football with his friends.
picture 2: Same boy at teachers desk, holding head and looking sick.
picture 3: Same boy playing football with his friends on playing field
picture 4: Footballers point at restaurant, suggesting cold drink
picture 5: Boy with friends in restaurant having cold drinks
picture 6: Teacher walks into restaurant.

You begin by asking what is happening in each picture in turn. Individual pupils
suggest answers, such as The boy is asking the teacher if he can go home because he is
sick. You write the best answer for each picture on the board. When all the questions are
complete, you ask the pupils to use the six answers as the basis for their text, reminding
them that the story must be told in the past tense. Before settling down to produce their texts
in pairs or small groups, the class may decide together what the wording of the first sentence
will be.
As confidence and skill grow, you can ask the pupils to create a story directly from a
sequence of pictures, without the question - answer stage. In this activity, writing can be
integrated with oral work. Class discussion establishes what is happening in each of the
pictures, then pupils decide in pairs or small groups how they are going to put the story
together. Each pair writes a first draft of the story then passes it to the next pair for comment
and correction. Second drafts are then written, and so on. In this way, all the class are
involved in the writing process.
In another version of this activity the whole class share in the writing of the same
story (e.g. a fairy tale type in which the characters and plot are fairly predictable). After class
discussion of standard forms and sequences of events in fairy tales, one pupil is asked to
write the first sentence of a story on a piece of paper. The paper is then passed on to the
next pupil who writes the second sentence, and so on. Once the class is accustomed to this
kind of combined writing, several stories can be circulating at the same time. The completed
stories are read out to the class by individual pupils for comments and suggestions. As a
follow-up task, the pupils may be given copies of the story to check for grammatical accuracy
and punctuation.
Guided writing
In guided writing, you still retain a certain amount of control over the form and content
of the pupils writing. The pupils are given information that they must include in their writing.
Sometimes you also give the first and last sentences. The information may come in the form
of a picture. For example, you give a picture of a lake on a summer day with people doing
various things (e.g. swimming, diving, having picnics and sunbathing). In the distance a
farmer is seen with his sheep dog. The task is to write three paragraphs about the scene.
You tell the pupils to begin by saying that the picture shows a scene in the
countryside. Then you ask them to say something about the weather, the colour of the sky,
the sun and the shade given by the trees round the lake. They must describe the lake: is it
big, small, deep, shallow, clear or dark? In the second paragraph the pupils are asked to
describe the people and say what each group is doing. What does the farmer use his dog
for? Finally, you tell them to end the paragraph with the words Other people can enjoy
themselves in the summer sun, but the farmer has to work.
Parallel writing
Such activities are typically used with pre-intermediate and intermediate pupils. In this
type of writing activities, content is free but form is given. You first give the pupils a piece of
writing to see and then they use it as a basis for their own work. The original piece sets a
model and guides them in expressing themselves. This type of activity is central to the
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teaching of connected discourse since it sets models from which the pupils can work. It
generally addresses the paragraph level.
Parallel writing tasks come in various forms to allow for varying degrees of control by
the teacher.
example

John is an English boy who lives in Shipton, in the north of England.

Shipton is a small village on the edge of the Irish Sea, near Lanchester.
The village has a church, a small shop, and a post office. There is no
school in Shipton, so Peter goes to school in Lanchester. To get into
Lanchester he has to catch a bus outside the post office. The bus leaves
the post office each morning at eight oclock.
Your task is to:
1. Write a similar paragraph about Rita, using these notes:
Rita Scottish girl Heston small town River Benlow
Edinburgh supermarket cinema football club small railway station
no library train library in Edinburgh railway station every two hours.
2. Write about your own village or town.

Sentence combining
Sentence combining tasks are rather more mechanical than parallel writing tasks.
They provide the pupils with the materials and ask them to manipulate them. You give sets of
simple sentences and ask the pupils to combine them in grammatically acceptable ways to
produce complex sentences. This helps to develop their style.
example

Combine each of the following pairs of sentences into one complex

sentence:
She overslept. She was late for school.
He was injured. He played football.

They were having a picnic. It started to rain.

The singer arrived. Everyone was seated.

At a higher level of organisation, pupils need practice in combining sentences to form

cohesive and coherent paragraphs.
The main difficulty encountered by pupils working at paragraph level is cohesion.
Cohesion is difficult in writing because often we do not get direct feedback on our writing from
our readers and we are not in a position to clarify points which have not been understood.
Cohesion involves not only the ordering of sentences, but also the use of cohesive devices.
Typical activities practising cohesion are sentence combining, sentence reordering, sentence
insertion and noun and sentence substitution. Unfortunately, it seems that pupil performance
in improving the syntactic complexity of writings tends to erode once sentence-combining
practice is discontinued.
Paragraph writing has to be practised as soon as the pupils have mastered basic
skills of sentence writing and need to progress beyond very controlled writing exercises to
sentence combining. This transition is more easily done by offering a short text as a model or
by doing oral preparation for the writing. The main problem is finding a suitable model as it is
not always possible to use a text from the textbook. The model text might be limiting or
misleading, especially if the pupils topic is somewhat different and they are in the habit of
following models closely.
During oral preparation you can build an outline on the board to which the pupils
contribute suggestions, and you key expressions. Later on, the pupils use this material as a
basis for their writing. This technique is flexible and involving and reveals the interests and
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abilities of the class. Also, it requires no specially prepared materials. The ideas about what
to write are generated by the pupils themselves.
Before asking your pupils to write an example of a particular text type,
you might want to go with them through some stages. Put the stages
suggested below into an appropriate order and justify your decision:
a)
practising guided writing which follows prompts (e.g. pictures or
sentences that summarise paragraphs)
b)
doing exercises that practise characteristic features of text type
(e.g. passive voice)
c)
reading examples of the text type
d)
analysing a sample text to isolate typical features.

3.4 Free Writing

Free writing tasks can be assigned after the study of the respective genre models.
You can ask pupils from intermediate to advanced to write narratives based on a picture or
series of pictures. They may describe an occasion when they felt disappointed or afraid,
surprised, or relieved. They may describe someone they know very well, or write descriptions
of people and places, based on photographs or some information about them. They may
write an answer to a (given) letter of complaint, write application letters, etc.
You can ask more advanced pupils to describe the process represented in a flowchart
or any kind of diagram, write reports of books they read, reviews of books they enjoyed (and
would like to recommend to other people in the class), instruction sheets for something they
know how to do well (e.g. prepare some kind of food) or essays on various topics.
Essay writing
Whatever kind of writing activities pupils practise in the classroom, at some stage you
will probably require them to produce an essay, and this will have to conform to an
acceptable format. A sample format is given below. This format is by no means the only
acceptable format for essays; many others are possible. But it may be useful as an indication
to pupils that each of the parts of an essay must be clearly related to the rest, to form a
coherent whole.
a)
Introduction. Here they need to define the terms. If the topic of the essay is,
for instance, Urban Pollution, they may need to show that they understand what urban and
pollution mean. Also here they need to state why the topic is of interest, where their main
focus on the topic will be, how many parts they will break the topic up into. This will give the
number of paragraphs they will have in the body of the essay.
b)
Body of essay. The introduction will tell how many paragraphs they are going
to write. Thus: each paragraph refers back to the introduction. For example, the
first/second/third type of urban pollution is Each paragraph discusses a different aspect of
the topic and provides an example to illustrate the point(s).
c)
Conclusion. This is a brief final paragraph. There is no need to repeat what
was said in the introduction or summarise the contents of the body paragraphs, except
perhaps in a brief sentence. For example: Thus there are a number of clear reasons why
urban pollution is a serious problem. The remainder of the conclusion looks briefly at any
further implications of what has been said in the body of the essay.

3.5

The Communicative Approach

The communicative approach emphasises task-oriented activities that involve the

exchange of information, with focus on fluency. Although the approach practises a good deal
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of modelling and controlled practice, a lot of attention is paid to motivation and to selfexpression. It stresses purpose and audience and encourages interaction among the pupils,
with less emphasis on form and accuracy. Through the activities, many of them based on
information gaps, and done in pairs and groups, the pupils are exposed to a lot of written
language. Listening and reading materials of a factual nature are also frequently used. Here
are some popular ideas of written communicative activities:
Relaying instructions
One pupil or one group of pupils elaborate instructions for the performance of a task.
They have to tell another pupil or group to perform the task by giving them written
instructions.
Writing reports, advertisements, brochures
The pupils write items for a school news broadcast or a school magazine. They can
join together to write a brochure about the place they live in or are studying in. They can write
and design their own advertisements.
Co-operative writing
The pupils may write joint stories, each pupil contributing a sentence. They may start
either at the first or the last sentence (these may be or may not be supplied).
The agony column
The pupils invent some problem, write letters to the columnist and then have them
answered by other members of the class.
Letters of complaint
The pupils write letters of complaint about faulty goods they have purchased or bad
service they received. The company representatives reply to these letters.
Job applications
The applications can be later on judged and a decision taken about who is
successful.
Letter writing and journal keeping
You can write a letter to the pupils in a (small) class, telling them something about
yourself and inviting them to write letters to you, which you would reply to personally. The
pupils may engage in correspondence about learning, their experiences, how they feel about
school, etc. The pupils use writing for genuinely communicative purposes and get individual
attention from you. The disadvantages of this procedure, as Rinvolucri, the initiator admits,
are firstly that some pupils get too close to the teacher and secondly that it takes a lot of
your time.
Alternatively, you can ask the pupils to keep diaries. Here they will write what they
want about what interests them. They will comment on the classes, on their personal
experiences, on politics or they will write stories. You can ask them to write in their journals
for five minutes at the end of every class, but also when they themselves want to. Such an
activity ensures frequent writing practice and all pupils have a chance to use English to
reflect their own thoughts and feelings. You have the advantage of interacting with your
pupils as individuals. These diaries are not primarily to be corrected, but rather to be reacted
to. In this activity, content feedback is far more important than form feedback.
Journal keeping is a private and confidential, as well as highly individualized process.
Consequently, assessing students journal entries is also a private matter between the writer
and the teacher. Sometimes the teacher can respond to journal entries through conferencing.
Journal entries can contribute greatly to the humanistic approach to teaching and learning, an
example of which is the integration of values during the sharing sessions.
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Dialogue journals
Dialogue journals are written conversations between teacher and student over a
period of time, on topics that are of special interest to them. Their goal is to communicate in
writing, to exchange ideas and information free of the concern for form and correctness so
often imposed on developing writers (Jones, 1991: 3 in Peyton & Staton, 1991).
Dialogue journals provide guidance to the learner in expressing ideas, thoughts,
feelings, and emotions. Dialogue journal interaction leads to trust between learner and
teacher. Dialogue journals have some ingredients that differentiate them from other forms of
written communication, specifically journal entries (Peaflorida A., 350):
Teacher and student write to each other, taking equal turns in writing and
responding. In journal keeping, there is no equal turn taking in responding
Teacher and student share ideas and information. In journal keeping the
student does not have to share her/his writing with anybody.
Teacher and student act as equal partners in the interaction between them. In
journal keeping there is a hierarchical relationship between teacher and
student.
Dialogue journal writing is applicable to some content area courses such as
literature, social studies, or science. Journal keeping is usually practised in
language courses only.
In dialogue journals, teacher gives students assistance beyond what they
already know how to do. In journal entries, teacher assists students on the
language used on the content of what is written.
Both the dialogue journal and journal keeping provide intensive writing practice,
promote learner autonomy, serve as informal means of assessment, are highly private and
confidential, and are interactive in varying degrees.
Projects
Projects are longer pieces of work that involve the collection of information and
reporting. The quality of the end product is important. The pupils can use tape-recorders and
video cameras to record interviews with native speakers they can find, or they can consult
libraries (including electronic ones) for source material.
Portfolios
Applebee and Langer (1992: 30) define portfolios as a cumulative collection of the
work students have done. Some of the most popular forms are the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.

a traditional writing folder in which students keep their work

a bound notebook with separate sections kept for work in progress and final drafts
a loose-leaf notebook in which students keep their drafts and revisions
a combination folder and envelope where students writings exercises, tests,
compositions, drafts, and so on are kept.
5. A notebook divided into two sections: one for drafts and the other for final copies
(once called original and rewritten compositions).
Learning logs

Learning logs help teachers see what their students are learning, particularly in the
writing class, and in the language class as a whole. In a learning log, students write on the
knowledge they have gained from studying in their writing classes, and from their own
thinking. A teacher need not grade learning logs, but can assess how much a student has
gained or benefited from the writing class.

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4 Purpose and Motivation

The communicative approach has led us to pay more attention to the purpose of
language, to the content of the message the pupils intend to get across. But it is sometimes
difficult for both teachers and pupils to think of writing as a motivating, purposeful activity,
especially if the goal of the activity is grammatical accuracy. In order for the pupils writing to
be more effective, and for reading to be more enjoyable, it is important to create other
purposes for writing.
The class should approach their task in terms of two questions: to whom they are
writing, and for what purpose. When the pupils have a better idea of whom their readers are
and of how they can get prepared to negotiate meaning, their writing is more purposeful. For
instance, instead of asking them to write a short autobiography, you could tell them they are
applying for a scholarship to spend a year in Great Britain. The purpose of the pupils writing
becomes thus more goal oriented. They will have to select the relevant qualities to speak
about and present the information in such a way as to show that one could benefit from such
experience and merits the scholarship over someone else.
The incorporation of an element of real communication, such as publication, is
motivating for most pupils. Going public in newsletters or class magazines and/or organizing
the reception of a real response (from either a classmate, pupils in another class, penfriends or the teacher) may determine the production of more effective writing.
What factors should you consider when setting a writing task?

Encouraging your pupils to help each other in preparing their written tasks may also
provide motivation and increase their confidence. The pupils can brainstorm ideas on a topic,
organise points for, neutral and against a specified argument, negotiate a line of thought, etc.
Pictures such as cartoons or drawings, may be used to stimulate ideas. Written tasks can
also be the result of other classroom activities such as reading, debates, role play, etc.
Your response on a pupils paper can also be an influential text in a writing class.
Some teachers ask their pupils to keep diaries in which they record aspects of their life and
address the teacher directly to ask for help or advice.
In practice most teachers and textbook writers draw on more than one approach and
combine and adapt various elements to suit their classes.

5 Feedback on Writing
In your own experience of learner of English, what kinds of feedback
did you receive from your teachers? How useful did you find their
feedback?

Many teachers feel a terrible temptation to take the pupils work, indicate all the
places that need fixing, and return it to the pupils. Undoubtedly, the papers would be better if
the pupils handed them in the second time. The question is whether the pupils care enough
about their papers to want to put them into acceptable form and whether teachers know how
to encourage them to do that.
Responding or giving feedback to student writing can be both oral and written. There
are a variety of response types that an English teacher can utilize in the classroom. C.
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Tribble (1996) identifies four basic roles that teachers may assume when giving feedback:
audience, evaluator, examiner and assistant.
As audience we read the text and say how we find it, and if the authors point is
clearly formulated. We respond to the pupils ideas, feelings, and attitudes and indicate
whether or not we enjoyed reading the text. Unfortunately, we often avoid this role and
assume the other three, identifying problems, commenting and grading.
However, our purpose as evaluators is to give feedback on the present strengths
and weaknesses of a text, with a view to help our pupils to improve their future performance.
The text is assessed on all dimensions: task fulfilment, content, organisation, vocabulary,
language, and mechanics.
Each dimension is normally accompanied by descriptors, adapted to the class level
and purposes and made public. One main advantage of the descriptors is that the pupils
know the basis on which their work is assessed. Another is that the teacher can recognise
excellence in one aspect while indicating weaknesses in others. This will help the pupils to
identify the areas they have to work on. The scores are finally converted into an overall
grade. If they are not too vague (e.g. Good work, Well done), evaluations can encourage
the pupils and point them in the right direction for future writing. Evaluations may be
accompanied by a short personal response to the message of the text. Thus the pupils get
complete feedback on the impact their texts have had on the teacher.
Evaluating is pointing out strengths and weaknesses, while examining is assigning a
grade. By giving a grade you indicate the degree of excellence that a task has achieved.
Once a task has been graded, the pupils will give it little thought or work. You need to assess
the pupils skills on the basis of explicit criteria. The use of analytical assessment criteria
helps the pupils to understand what is expected from them and how a weak paper can be
improved. Giving separate scores, one for each area, you can also help the pupils to
understand their strengths and weaknesses. Weighting content and ideas twice as heavily as
language or structure, for instance, will underline the importance of content.
As assistants, you tell the pupils if you find their text effective in relation to its
purpose, pass advice on language, genre, structure, and subject matter. You devote time to
their command of language, trying to assist them at each stage in the writing process, and
encourage collaboration among them. In this role, the most significant contribution that you
can make in the writing classroom is to create a community of readers. However, your
assistance cannot help the pupils to improve a text if you also grade it.
As audience, evaluators, and examiners you give feedback on the pupils text as end
product and your comments come too late to influence the piece of writing. Your feedback is
usually limited to grading, commenting (superficially) and correcting errors. You give the
pupils no indication of what they are to do next or what they have to work on. If their task has
not been clearly specified and if they do not really know what the purpose of the writing has
been, this sort of feedback can be time-consuming and demoralising for both you and the
pupils.
Consider the following comments made by various pupils. Try to identify
what role their English teacher assumed when giving feedback:
1.
My teacher wrote at the bottom of the page that my grammar is
acceptable, but I still have some problems with the present perfect, and
the definite article.
2.
The teacher criticised: the conclusion is weak. It introduces new
points.
3.
She told me to change the introduction, making it more interesting
for the reader.
4.
The teacher located and indicated the nature of my errors.
5.
The teacher made suggestions for changes.
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6.
The teacher re-wrote my text, without changing its content and
arguments and brought both my draft and hers to class. We all discussed
and compared the text organisation, development of ideas, sense of
audience and style, but my classmates were not told whose text the
teacher used.
7.
I got an 8 in my last assignment.
8.
The teacher asked me questions.
9.
The teacher emoted: What a terrible experience!
1. ..
2. ..
3. ..
4. ..
You need strategies to give constructive comments on drafts. If feedback is done
effectively, by the time the text is finished, most of the problems have been solved. Moreover,
the pupils will understand the purpose of your feedback at each stage.
Writing involves content, organization, style, syntax, mechanics, grammar and
spelling. When looking at any piece of writing, you often feel you have to respond to all these.
However, the most important thing to consider, especially at post-beginner level, is content,
followed by organization and presentation. The quality and amount of pupil writing is very
sensitive to constructive teacher feedback on content, and relatively insensitive to teacher
correction of form. Feedback on content, unlike feedback on grammar, can determine the
improvement of writing. If you limit your feedback to pointing out and/or correcting errors,
your pupils will concentrate on producing error-free writing, neglecting the interest or even the
meaning of the content. The equation teaching writing = error elimination is counterproductive and may result in a waste of time and discouragement. Ideally, your pupils should
be familiar with various types of feedback.
One problem is how to maintain a fair balance between form and content when
assessing and giving feedback. This balance depends, to some extent on your own teaching
situation, experience and opinion.
The correction of written work can be done on much the same basis as the correction
of oral work. You should not always be preoccupied with accuracy. There may be times when
you are concerned with accuracy and other times when your main concern is the content of
the writing. Some of us, although fully aware of the importance of content and organisation,
find ourselves dealing mainly with language accuracy in our feedback, conveying the implicit
message that this is what matters. This happens because language mistakes are difficult to
ignore, they catch the eye; they are more easily and quickly diagnosed and corrected than
the ones of content and organisation. Moreover, many pupils want their language mistakes to
be corrected.
In spite of all this, you should not convey the message that the language mistakes are
your main concern. To avoid this to happen, you may note corrections within the body of the
text, and write comments on content and organisation at the end. Feedback in the form of
comments by the teacher is extremely helpful. The most important contribution you can make
is that of being a careful reader, willing to respond to what pupils write in terms of clarity,
coherence, and effectiveness of content.
We have distinguished between learning to write activities, meant to
help the pupils learn to write and writing to learn activities, meant to help
them write to learn. What essential difference will there be between the
way we respond to texts that have been written with these two different
purposes?

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5.1 Self-correction, self-response or critical reading

This is a step torward learner autonomy. Studies have revealed that studenta are
capable of analyzing and responding to their own writing given the proper training. By
allowing them to react to their own work and to practice self-feedback, the teacher is
encouraging students to be self-sufficient and independent.
V. Zamel (1991) suggests four self-correction techniques that the pupils can use to
correct their own work in class with a critical eye.
1.
The pupils read their papers aloud to other pupils. Reading aloud will help them
spot some of the mistakes. In most cases, they will naturally hesitate when a sentence does
not seem to work.
2.
A classmate reads the paper aloud. The new reader may pause when coming
across a mistake or when a sentence is problematic.
3.
The pupils take their text, cover up everything on the page except the first
sentence, put their pencil point to one word at a time, and say the sentence aloud, word by
word. They try to pick out the core (subject + verb) of the sentence.
4.
The pupils read their last sentences first and so on, backwards through the text,
sentence by sentence. This is a way of focusing attention on sentence-level accuracy and
preventing the eye from leaping ahead for the content.
Another technique is to give students a few sample questions as guidelines, e.g.:]

What I am writing about?

Is the main idea of my work clear?
Do I have details (e.g. examples and illustrations) to support my main idea?

The question of class climate, personal relationships, trust and willingness to accept
criticism and help from one another remains. Because critical reading does not come
naturally for many pupils, you can help them with checklists and/or questions to answer. Thus
the pupils will learn what to look for in a text in order to offer useful and constructive
feedback.

5.2 Peer response

Correcting written work is very time-consuming, particularly if you have large classes.
One possible solution is to let the pupils correct and edit each others writing. Peer response
shows that readership does not belong exclusively to the teacher, since in this type of
response, students share their writings with each other. Students may not like this at the
beginning, but with the teachers encouragement, they will gradually get used to the idea of
communicating their ideas to each other. Elbow (1992) believes that when students write only
for their teacher (which usually means for a grade), they often treat writing as an empty
school exercise and attempt simply to just get it right, or give teachers what they want.
When students write for their peers, they become concerned about what they say and how
they say it. Students may not be as skilled as their teachers at responding to each others
work, but they can provide an audience. Peer responding must be modelled, taught, and
controlled in order for it to be a valuable activity. Controlling peer response, just like selffeedback, can be done through the use of a checklist. Here are some typical questions for
peer response (Kroll, 1991: 259):

What is the main purpose of this paper?

What have you found particularly effective in this paper?
Do you think the writer has followed through on what the paper set out to do?
Find at least three places in the essay where you can think of questions that have
not been answered by the writer. Write those questions on the margin as areas for
the writer to answer in the next draft.

The teacher can train the pupils in giving and asking for specific and constructive
feedback. For instance a statement like I think that this sentence would be better if you
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18

added some colour words is constructive while Your sentences are problematic is
destructive. The pupils should be encouraged to ask for feedback on spelling, punctuation,
sentence variety, style, etc. Also, they should constantly check with their group members to
make sure their comments are clear. They can be taught to ask questions like:

developing?

Is there any place in my text that is hard to follow?

Is there any point that you do not really understand?
Is there any place in which my examples, reasons, or explanations need
Is there any place where I should add more details?
Is there any place where I seem to wander from my topic?
Are there any unclear or missing transitions?

Even if they cannot discern all the strengths and weaknesses of an assignment, the
pupils will detect at least some of them. The problem is whether your pupils feel comfortable
correcting, or being corrected by their classmates, and whether they accept criticism (positive
or negative) form each other. Their comfort will depend on the general classroom climate.
The attitudes that make peer correction helpful are mutual trust; a real listening to each other;
a mutual recognition that whatever is said is a subjective opinion and not necessarily the
absolute, objective truth, and a general desire to communicate effectively taking into account
the others reactions.
If peer correction works, it can be a substitute for the teachers first-draft reading. The
pupils can work together, giving each other feedback on language, organisation and content.
They then rewrite and give in the final version to you.
The following activity is intended to teach pupils how to evaluate the
content clarity and effectiveness of a classmates composition. The order
of the steps has been modified. Your task is to try to put the steps in
logical order:
1.
Without looking at the text, tell the author what you think s/he is
saying, or, if it is a narrative, tell the story back to the author as precisely
as you can.
2.
After each of you has given and received feedback, rewrite your
task.
3.
Then your partner(s) should give you the same type of feedback
on your text.
4.
Ask your partner(s) about anything which seems unclear or for
constructive suggestions.
5.
Read each others paper carefully.

5.3 Teacher Response

The last to respond to a written work is the teacher. The teachers load is lightened
when students have done both individual and peer feedback.
Conferencing, which is a one-to-one converstaion between teacher and student, is an
effective means of teacher response to student writing. It is a form of oral teacher feedback.
A short conference will enable the teacher to ask the student about certain parts of the
latters writing which are problematic. Conferences have the additional advantages that they
make teachers better acquianted with their students, and they allow the teacher to uncover
potential misunderstandings that the students might have about prior written feedback.
Conferencing takes place after the students have finished writing their compositions.
The variations on the writing conference are many, but the basic pattern is simple:

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The student comments on the draft.

19

The teacher reads and reviews the draft.

The teacher responds to the students comments.
The student responds to the teachers response.

The purpose of this basic pattern is to help students learn to read their own drafts with
increasing effectiveness. It is the responsibility of the student to write and make the first
evaluation of his/her experiment in meaning. It is the responsibility of the teacher to listen to
the students response, then to listen to the text, and finally to respond to the writers reading
of the text. Then it is the responsibility of the student to respond to the teachers reponse.
Below are some responses teachers should try to avoid as there is not much the writer can
do with or learn from such comments (Murray, 1985: 156):

This is no good
Wow! You can write!
Dodnt you learn anything about writing?
This is great, just great.
This is a mess, just a mess.
Ive never seen such a bad paper.
I dont know what I can teach someone who writes like you (either overpraise
or criticism).

On the other hand, the following comments may stimulate and encourage work (after
Murray, 1985: 156):

Some of this works, but what do you plan to attack next?

Where do you think you get off the track?
I like the way you wove the quotes into the text. Are there other things that
could be woven in the same way?
Where do you intend to go from here? I need to find out.
And you said you had no voice. Tell me how you made this draft so different.

5.4 Strategies for the Correction of Mistakes

Correction can be seen as an opportunity to make positive responses to a pupils
work. This is extremely difficult to do if your concern is to mark every error in red pen. Of
course, ultimately a grade will have to be given to the piece of writing, but if it is based
entirely on grammatical accuracy, then the whole point of the writing will have been lost.
This is not to say that mistakes in syntax or punctuation should be ignored. But it is a
good idea to read a piece of writing twice: once for the content and the second time for the
language. During the first reading, try to ignore grammatical errors and concentrate entirely
on the content. Assign a mental grade to the content, then re-read to assess the mechanical
aspects: syntax, punctuation, spelling, and the way in which the text hangs together. The final
grade should reflect content, shape and grammatical accuracy.
The problem of correction of mistakes is one of potential conflict between two of the
roles of the teachers: language instructors versus assistants. If we accept that language
should be corrected, then the problem arises: should all language mistakes be noted?
Sometimes there are so many mistakes that the page will be covered with corrections and
too much correcting can be discouraging, demoralising and distracting. Over-emphasis on
language mistakes can distract the pupils attention from content and organisation. How can
you judge which mistakes to relate to and which not?
Your approach should vary according to context and the pupils individual needs. In
any situation, your comments should relate to the task assigned. If the pupils are first asked
to express their ideas in English (free writing, composition) and then to read critically what
they have written in order to make changes, then you should also give a two-stage response,

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by separating your response to content and structure from your response to language
accuracy.
One approach is to ignore the language mistakes that do not hinder reading. You may
correct only those mistakes which are very basic and those which affect meaning, leading to
misunderstanding or confusion, such as sentence derailments or faulty subordination. Other
errors may go uncorrected, but while identifying them you can make a list of error types as
they occur, and thus create an individual grammar syllabus.
To help your pupils to concentrate on particular aspects of language, you can tell
them that their work will be corrected for only one thing, the use of tenses, for instance. By
doing this, you ensure that their work will not be covered by red marks, and you encourage
them to focus on particular aspects of written language. You can individualise language work
by identifying for each pupil a few kinds of errors and assigning tasks that focus on these.
Where a piece of writing contains a number of common errors, you may photocopy
the work (erasing the writers name) and show it to the whole class, asking them to identify
problems. In this way the attention of the class can be drawn to common mistakes and the
photocopied document can form the basis for remedial work.
You will learn about your pupils errors if you give them the opportunity to make them,
fix them, and discuss them. You can ask your pupils to discuss where they think their
mistakes come from and why they make them. This will help you to realise which mistakes
the pupils can recognise and which ones they cannot. Asking the pupils to discuss their
mistakes will provide you with information about their transfers from Romanian or from
another foreign language they learn. In this way, the mistakes will no longer be everybodys
enemy, but clear evidence of language learning.
Another strategy is to point out both strengths and weaknesses. Thus, your pupils will
have the chance to perceive a correct model in their own use of language and will be likely to
continue taking risks if they see that their good qualities are noted and encouraged.
Use of correction symbols (all levels)
You can indicate mistakes in written work by putting a mark in the margin to show
what kind of mistake it is (e.g. V for vocabulary, WO for word order, WW for wrong word, / for
missing word, SP for spelling, P for punctuation, GR for grammar, VF for verb form, VT for
verb tense, ? for unclear meaning or handwriting, etc.) Indication of mistakes is less time
consuming for you than correcting and more effective for the pupils. The latter have to reread the text and spend time in identifying and correcting themselves the mistakes signalled
in the margin.
You need symbols for spelling, wrong tense usage, agreement, inappropriate
language, punctuation, missing words, unclear meaning, etc. Whatever symbols you use,
your pupils should understand clearly what they mean. When you first use the symbols,
underline the word in the text and put the symbol in the margin. Later you will only use the
symbol in the margin for the pupils to identify the mistake.
When you bring back to class the pupils writing with comments on content and
correction symbols in the margin, you should allow them time to identify their mistakes and
correct them. While they are identifying their problems, you can help where they do not know
what is wrong. If this stage is not gone through, your pupils will not take advantage of the
system of correction symbols.
There is certainly no perfect approach to giving feedback on writing. Yet it is essential
that your pupils understand how you want the feedback system to work. You should clarify
both for them and for yourself what your policy on mistakes correction is, what symbols and
abbreviations you use, and what you want them to do with their drafts and your comments
when they receive them.

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Use a correction code to signal the language mistakes in the following

piece of writing:
I am studying english because I want to work for a big company when I
will graduate. Perhaps I may to continue my studys. So I must to reach a
good level of english because of when I will go abroad sended by the
company, Ill need to understand all. My father, who is mecanic engineer,
he says that english is an interesting language for all kinds of reason.
Another reason why I am studying english is that I like myself to listen to
the music. I am learning new expressions and improve my listening, too. I
can mix learning with the pleasure of listening to the music. Something
else is we often have foreigners invited for dinner at home who are invited
by my parents and usualy english is the language of comunication.
Rewriting
When you receive written tasks, you normally correct and comment on them and give
them back. The question is whether you should insist on the pupils rewriting their tasks,
incorporating your suggestions. Your pupils do not like doing it, but, on the other hand,
frequent opportunities for writing and rewriting are an important tool for improving language,
content and structure. Irrespective of the feedback the pupils receive from you, they improve
their work when they rewrite their texts. According to A. Raimes, the number of language
mistakes decreases by about 20%, even when the teacher response includes no explicit
correction of mistakes (Raimes, 1983).
Pupils rewriting should be followed by teachers re-reading. You can motivate your
pupils to rewrite by seeing the first version as provisional, and assessing the revised version.
In this way the pupils will carefully read and incorporate your comments and new
assignments in their final version. Another reason to ask for rewriting and not spending a long
time on first draft correction is that you can misread your pupils intentions. Successful
communication also means that pupils say in writing what they mean. To make sure that their
ideas are communicated accurately, you have to ask them to rewrite and edit their own texts,
assisting them with questions and comments on the parts of the text that you find obscure.

Summary
Although recent ELT methodology considers the clarity and effectiveness of the
content of a piece of writing to be more important than language correctness, writing is still
regarded by some teachers as transcribed speech. They tend to consider the quality of
writing in relation to the frequency and gravity of linguistic errors. They neglect composition,
assuming that once the language has been mastered, the ability to use the same language
for written communication will follow naturally.
However, writing has a dual purpose: as a means (or a support skill) and as an end
(or a communicative skill). Generally speaking, you will find two types of writing activities in
the English textbooks: those designed to develop the writing skills per se (writing as an
end/communicative skill) and those which provide opportunity of practising English (writing as
a means/support skill).
The kind of feedback that teachers give on writing is largely a matter of experience.
Generally speaking, the red pencil is intimidating and discouraging, when teachers believe
that form (grammar and spelling) is everything. Alternative ways of determining re-writing can
be found, such as peer-correction and self-correction.

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Further Reading
Harmer, J. 2001. The Practice of English Language Teaching. 3rd ed., Longman
Huerta-Macas, Ana. Alternative Assessment: Responses to Commonly Asked
Questions in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya, Willy A., 2002. Methodology in
Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.
Nunan, D. 1991. Language Teaching Methodology. A textbook for teachers. Prentice Hall
Peaflorida, Andreea H., Nontraditional Forms of Assessment and Response to Student
Writing in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya, Willy A., 2002. Methodology in
Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.
Reppen, Randi. A Genre-Based Approach to Content Writing Instruction in Richards, Jack
C. and Renandya, Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge:
CUP.
Richards, Jack C. and Renandya, Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: CUP.
Scrivener, Jim. 2009. Learning Teaching, Macmillan Books for Teachers
Seow, Anthony, The Writing Process and Process Writing in Richards, Jack C. and
Renandya, Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. pp. 315 320.
Cambridge: CUP.

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23

Catedra de Limba i literatura englez

EFL Methodology for English students, year II

TEACHING VOCABULARY
For many people, the question What is vocabulary? has a simple answer: Words. But
which words? Are am, is, was, had and of vocabulary items, or are they something else?
On the other hand, we may wish to say that such words as am, is, was, has, etc. are part
of our vocabulary in a general sense. What is a word? Is put up with (tolerate) one word or
three? It has three parts, certainly, but only one meaning. Beat, on the other hand, has several
meanings; is it one word or more? One way of avoiding this dilemma is to refer to items of
vocabulary with a single meaning as lexical items, whether they consist of one word or more.
The term word can then be reserved for a group of letters preceded and followed by a space.
However, the word may include the base form with its inflections and derivatives (e.g. makes,
made, making, maker-s). Since the meanings of these different forms of the word are closely
related, it is assumed that little effort is needed to learn them.
However, it should be remembered that vocabulary learning is more than the study of
individual words. A significant amount of the English language is made up of lexical phrases
which range from lexical verbs to longer expressions, and routines. Because these can often be
learned as single units, the same principles of learning apply to them as to individual words. The
notion of a word has been broadened to include such lexical phrases and routines, and it has
been suggested that in the initial stages of learning these play a primary role in communication
and acquisition. In addition, access to lexical corpora has made it possible for applied linguists
to identify common patterns of collocation, word formation, metaphor, and lexical phrases that
are part of a speakers lexical competence.
Whatever linguistic distinctions we choose to make, however, it is clear that our pupils
need to know both lexical items and grammar words in order to communicate in English.
Vocabulary is a core component of language proficiency and provides much of the basis for
how learners speak, listen, read and write. Without an extensive vocabulary and strategies for
acquiring new vocabulary, learners often achieve less than their potential and may be
discouraged from making use of language learning opportunities around them such as listening
to the radio, listening to native speakers, using the language in different contexts, reading, or
watching television.
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

explain what vocabulary is and what role it plays in the system of a language and
its culture

explain how vocabulary itself is systematic

set up, apply and monitor a variety of interactive classroom tasks for developing
vocabulary

offer a theoretical justification for each of these tasks

explain and illustrate using a dictionary and the phonemic symbols

integrate vocabulary activities with the development of one or more of the four
skills

have reconsidered and improved your own repertoire of skills in the area of
language teaching

assess the learning outcomes of classroom vocabulary activities

have some ideas for developing pupil autonomy in vocabulary learning.

Key Concepts: comprehension vs. production, active vs. passive vocabulary,

cognates, vocabulary acquisition vs. learning, vocabulary sets, incidental, intentional and
independent learning of vocabulary.
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Knowing a word
To know a word is to know much more than just its stress, its spelling and its most
commonly accepted meaning. It is to know its grammar: is it a verb? an adjective? a noun? Is it
followed by a gerund, an infinitive or a clause? What is its range of meaning (e.g. head of a
school, head of a bed, etc.)? its diversity of meaning (e.g. light weight; light literature, light food;
light: illuminate; lamp, etc.)? its collocations (e.g. keen on; interested in; to gamble on; raw
materials; heavy traffic), and its connotations (e.g. dustman vs. refuse collector; chairman vs.
chairperson; trendy vs. fashionable)?
Many teachers advise their pupils to write new words in special vocabulary notebooks.
However, these are of little practical use unless some indication is given of how the new lexical
item is used. Words do not have meaning in isolation. If we see the single word beat, for
instance, we have no way of knowing whether it is a noun meaning rhythm, an area for which
a policeman is responsible, or a verb meaning defeat. Similarly, round may refer to the shape
of something, but it is also another name for a bullet, a type of song and a number of drinks.
Words take their meaning from the context in which they occur. It therefore makes sense to
teach new vocabulary as part of a sentence or utterance that makes the meaning clear.
Harmer (1991: 158) suggests that, in order to know a vocabulary item, we must be aware
of its:
Meaning: many words have more than one meaning. For the noun face, for
instance, Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English lists fourteen meanings.
Use: a word may carry information about register or style. Both Good morning and
Hi are greetings, but they indicate different levels of formality. A words meaning can also be
extended in metaphor and idiom.
Formation: words change shape according to the affixes attached to them, and also
according to their function, e.g.: lie, liar, lying, lied.
Grammar: nouns may be countable, uncountable; adjectives and adverbs may have
degrees of comparison, etc.
In addition to all this, as Penny Ur suggests (1996: 61, ff) we need to know what a lexical
item sounds like and what it looks like: that is its pronunciation and spelling. We also need to be
aware of its denotation, connotation and collocations.
Denotation and connotation both reflect the meaning of an item. However, while
denotation refers to the usual dictionary definition, connotation is concerned with socio-cultural
factors, with the feelings associated with the item. For example, thin and slim have roughly
the same denotative meaning: they are the opposite of fat. But when used to describe people,
slim has favourable connotations while thin is unflattering. Learners need to appreciate this
kind of differences.
Certain words tend to go together. We make coffee, we make the beds, but we do
the dishes and the shopping We speak of sweet and sour taste, but the opposite of sweet
wine is dry wine. We say that wine collocates with dry, that coffee collocates with make
and that the shopping collocates with do. Pupils therefore need to learn not only new items of
vocabulary but also the words and phrases that collocate with these items. The collocations of a
word are the combinations that it regularly makes with other words.
Coming to know a word is to absorb all the elements of its usage over time. In other
words, during the first few encounters with a word the pupils will acquire a rough idea of what it
means and the way it is used. This rough idea will become more accurate with each new
encounter of the word in context.
To conclude, to know a word is to be able to use it accurately in all its possible usages.
There is a fundamental difference between the native speakers process and the foreign
language learner's process of learning vocabulary. This is to do with the semantic networks that
each of them carries in his/her mind. To the native speaker, a new word is simply a new way of
referring to something in an already very familiar cultural setting. To our pupil, a new word in
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English is a way of referring to something in an unfamiliar cultural setting. So the pupil tends to
incorporate the meaning of the new word into his/her own familiar cultural and semantic system.
The meanings, both semantic and cultural, of the forms of a new language are most
readily and precisely learned in the milieu where the language is spoken. Failing this, we need
to surround the learner in the classroom with as much authentic speech, writing, aspects of the
cultural environment, and contacts with native speakers as possible. Why? Because a language
can only be truly and thoroughly absorbed in conjunction with its culture.
To what extent can you aim at accuracy in the use of vocabulary
in the classroom?

The importance of vocabulary: comprehension and production

How important is vocabulary to the pupil? Scrivener (1994: 73) claims that, as a means
of communication, vocabulary is much more powerful than grammar. Without a substantial stock
of vocabulary items the pupil will be unable to communicate much at all. However, frequency
counts show us that there is a very rapid drop-off in frequency of occurrence of vocabulary after
the most frequent 2,000 to 3,000 high-frequency words of the language.
Here are some points about teaching vocabulary, on which theoreticians are in general
agreement:
1. Like grammar, vocabulary can provide an effective vehicle for conveying meaning.
2. Vocabulary for recognition purposes (i.e. passive vocabulary) is acquired in
significantly greater quantities than vocabulary for productive purposes (i.e. active vocabulary).
This is true for native speakers and foreign language learners alike.
3. The vocabulary of a language reflects the semantic systems of conceptual meaning
that have developed within the culture and history of that language. The semantic systems of
English and Romanian will therefore be different. The amount of difference between two
languages depends on the degree of divergence between the two cultures. For instance, the
semantic systems of Chinese and English will differ far more from those of English and
Romanian.
4. Vocabulary in the mother tongue is acquired unconsciously and via active interaction
with adults and other children.
5. Vocabulary is stored in the memory in different ways by different learners. Learners
own strategies for vocabulary acquisition should be encouraged and developed so that they can
continue to acquire vocabulary independently of the teacher and the classroom.
Even native speakers can rarely say they know the meaning of a word, because there is
often a new use of a new collocation to learn that they haven't encountered before.

Receptive (passive) and productive (active) knowledge of vocabulary

Receptive knowledge means being able to recognise one of the aspects of knowledge
though reading and listening. Productive knowledge means being able to use it in speaking and
writing. Teachers should be selective when deciding which words deserve deeper receptive
and/or productive practice, as well as which type of knowledge will be most useful for their
learners. In other words, active vocabulary is made up of those words the learners will be
expected to use, to produce, and passive vocabulary of those words they will merely have to
recognise/comprehend when they hear them or see them in print.
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The distinction between active and passive vocabulary assigns priority to comprehension.
Comprehension should precede production. The object of a vocabulary lesson is to enhance the
different strategies for comprehension and production. Thus, when considering active and
passive vocabulary, three principles are important to bear in mind:
(i)
you need to teach any lexical item either for active production or passive
recognition.
(ii)
the memory processes involved in assimilating passive vocabulary are less
demanding than those involved in assimilating active vocabulary.
(iii)
pupils can easily learn passive vocabulary independently of both you and the
classroom.
As active vocabulary, you may look for high frequency words, and words with wide
coverage. Such a high-frequency and wide-coverage word is for example get. English nativespeaker primary school children are discouraged by their teachers from using get because
they tend to use it too frequently: I got up, I got washed, I got dressed, I got ready, I got to the
bus stop, I got punished, I got ill, etc. This simply shows what a very useful word get is,
particularly for pupils in the early stages or where ability to communicate is seen as a highly
motivating factor.
However, as Harmer warns, the distinction between active and passive vocabulary is not
always clear cut, particularly at intermediate levels and above. A word that has been active
through constant use may slip back into the passive store if it is not used anymore. On the other
hand, a word that pupils may have in their passive store may become active of the situation or
context provokes its use (Harmer, 1991: 159).
Consequently, you need to spend more time on active vocabulary, with examples and
questions, but to present passive vocabulary briefly and allow pupils to guess the meaning from
context where possible. Not all pupils will start guessing automatically, so you need to invest a
little time in training this skill.
Vocabulary is only learnt if it is understood. Nothing can be learnt unless it can be
incorporated into an existing mental picture of the way things are, a sort of framework of
perceptions and associations. Pupils therefore need careful guidance about the meaning of
lexical items, and about their grammatical use, before they can place them in their internal
networks of meaning.
A problem, however, may be one of interference from concepts in Romanian and English
that seem to have associations with the target item. This is unavoidable, and has to be
countered with clear examples of how the English word is used (or not used) in that context and
in comparison with other words.
The vocabulary that pupils encounter will only be assimilated if it has relevance to the
messages they want to understand or to the messages they want to convey. Only those lexical
items are learnt that are perceived as having personal significance for the pupil. Personal
significance can take many forms, e.g. I need it to understand this text, I need it to understand
a letter from my English pen-friend, I need it to understand the instructions in my grammar
book, etc.
In your own words, try to formulate the classroom implications of
these views of vocabulary. Think of what is taught versus what is
learnt, of the pupils motivation for learning vocabulary, and of the
strategies you may want to use in teaching vocabulary.

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Classroom vocabulary
There are some items of vocabulary that need to be learned to a very high degree of
fluency and as quickly as possible. These include numbers, polite formulas, items for
controlling language use (for example, to ask someone to repeat, speak more slowly and so
on), times and periods of time and quantities. Although it is not always easy to decide which
lexical items should be part of the active vocabulary, it is fairly clear that classroom vocabulary
is a high priority. By this we do not simply mean the names of classroom furniture, although it is
obviously important for the pupils to know and use desk, board, wall, picture, book,
chalk as well as write, read, draw. Classroom vocabulary includes the key words we use
in instructions to the learners. Here are some of the more common ones:
true/false
get into pairs/groups
tick/cross
grid/chart/map/form
regular/irregular
fill in/cross out/leave out/underline
gaps/blanks
top/middle/bottom
offer/accept/refuse/invite
instructions/description/suggestion/opinion
There are many vocabulary items that need to be learned to a very high degree of
fluency as quickly as possible. These include not only classroom vocabulary but also numbers,
polite formulas, items for controlling language use (ask someone to repeat, speak more slowly),
times, and periods of time and quantities.

How much vocabulary?

How much new vocabulary do you think is appropriate for a
one-hour lesson in a lower secondary school? Is this more, less, or
the same as the textbook you are using expects? Does this apply to
all vocabulary, or are some items more difficult to learn than others?
If so, which and why?
Opinions vary on the amount of new vocabulary that pupils can be expected to absorb.
Suggestions range from five to twelve new items in a one-hour lesson. Many teachers might
feel that a number between five and eight would be more reasonable. A great deal depends on
the aims of the lesson, the pupils level of ability, motivation, aptitude and so on. Nor can we
expect that the pupils will remember all the vocabulary they are taught. In fact, they will not
remember very much of it unless the items are recycled in later lessons.
Pedagogic considerations
Your decisions about what to teach will be affected by considerations referring to the
pupils, the resources and the linguistic components, but also by pedagogic ones, that is by the
factors that affect how you teach, and which choice you will make. These considerations are:
teachability/ learnability
You will teach according to the level of your pupils, and to how easy is an item to put
over. Even at low levels, you can teach:
i) international words (e.g. taxi, television, hotel, cinema, weekend)
ii) cognates, that is words which are similar in both form and meaning in the two
languages (e.g. the names of many school subjects like chemistry, geography, biology,
mathematics, etc., or verbs such as obtain, admire, insult, form, etc.). These are obviously very
easy to learn.

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Can you think of any other words of Romanian which are similar
to English words in both form and meaning (cognates), and of any
others which are false friends (similar in form, but not in meaning)?

extendability
Some words allow the use of prefixes and suffixes; others enter various combinations or
include the meaning of other words (their hyponyms):
i) word families: photo graph, -graphy, -graphic, -grapher.
ii) combinable items: hand bag, home work, guitar string
iii) cover words: (at early levels): seat for chair / stool/ sofa / bench, nice with people /
weather / events, house for house / flat / home / building, etc.
concrete vs. abstract
Those words that show concrete entities are easier to grasp and will be taught before the
more subtle or abstract words, e.g.:
i) beautiful before responsible
ii) cant stand before not keen on
iii) Could you? / Yes of course before Would you mind ing? / Not at all.
amount (learning load)
A rough guide according to level, mood and motivation of the learners is:

maximum 6 for beginners

maximum 9 - 10 for intermediate
for advanced students, it is up to the students themselves.

teaching for active for for passive vocabulary is a crucial decision which affects your
entire approach. Are the pupils to learn vocabulary in order to recognise it or in order to
produce it?
if only to recognise, concentrate on pronunciation, spelling, context and
meaning;
if to produce, concentrate on pronunciation, spelling, context, meaning and
practice.
difficulty of concept and pronunciation, etc. will also be factors to consider.
One obvious way of adding to ones vocabulary store is to search for words in English
which are similar to ones in Romanian. Pupils should be encouraged to do this, but they should
also be warned to watch out for false friends, that is, words which look or sound similar but
which have rather different meanings and uses. For example, the English library does not
mean the same as the Romanian word librrie.

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Match the following false friends with their Romanian equivalents. A

few Romanian words have no English equivalents in this list!
1. accommodation
a. comptimire
2. argument
b. gol, vid; loc liber; rgaz
3. (to) assist
c. a relua, a rencepe
4. commodity
d. spectacol
5. conservatory
e. ochelari
6. industry
f. vacan
7. interest
g. marf, produs
8. (to) resume
h. cazare, gzduire
9. spectacles
i. hrnicie
10. sympathy
j. comoditate
11. vacancy
k. a ajuta
l. discuie, controvers
m. dobnd
n. ser

Teaching vocabulary
There are three main approaches to the teaching of vocabulary: incidental learning,
explicit instruction and independent strategy development.
Teaching vocabulary means directing the learners attention to language items not for
producing or comprehending a particular message, but for gaining knowledge about the item as
a part of the language system. This includes focusing on the pronunciation and spelling of
words; deliberately mlearning the meanings of words; memorizing collocations, phrases and
sentences containign a specific word; and being corrected for incorrect use of a word.
Negotiating vocabulary is also a kind od such instruction if it involves discussing the words
spelling or pronunciation, or giving explanation of its meaning.

Incidental learning (acquisition)

Most words in both L1 and a foreign language are probably learned incidentally, through
extensive reading and listening. Learning vocabulary is a gradual process based on many
exposures to the word in context. Vocabulary is learnt as it crops up for instance, from a
listening or reading text, or during a discussion. The incidental learning of vocabulary requires
that teachers provide opportunities for extensive reading and listening. The role of graded (i.e.
simplified) readers is to build up the learners vocabulary and structures until they can use more
authentic materials. Low-proficiency learners can benefit from graded readers because they will
be repeatedly exposed to high-frequency vocabulary.
The incidental learning of vocabulary may eventually account for a majority of the
advanced learners vocabulary; however, intentional learning through instruction contributes
significantly to vocabulary development. Explicit instruction is essential for beginning learners
whose lack of vocabulary limits their reading or listening, and generally speaking, their ability to
communicate.

Explicit instruction
Explicit instruction involves diagnosing the words learners need to know, presenting
words for the first time (e.g. before presentation of structures, before elicited dialogues or
narratives, before reading or listening activities, or before discussion, games or role-play
activities), elaborating word knowledge, and developing fluency with known words. Quite often,
explicit instruction involves teaching vocabulary in lexical groups/ sets or fields. Also,
translation has a necessary and useful role, although it can hinder learners progress if it is
used to the exclusion of English-based techniques. Furthermore, translation needs to be
followed up with other English-based exercises and learning strategies.
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Vocabulary lists can be an effective way to quickly learn word-pair translations. A

more effective way is to use vocabulary cards because learners can control the order in which
they study the words. Also, additional information can easily be added to the cards.
When teaching unfamiliar vocabulary, you need to consider the following:
1. learners need to do more than just see the form; they need to hear the pronunciation
and practise saying the word aloud. The syllable structure and stress pattern of the
word are important because they are two ways in which words are stored in
memory.
2. Start by teaching semantically unrelated words. Also avoid teaching words with
similar forms and closely related meanings at the same time (e.g. affect and effect).
Also, bilingual vocabulary books often simply list words in alphabetical order,
increasing the chances of confusing words that start with the same syllable.
Likewise, words with similar, opposite, or closely associated (e.g. types of fruit,
family members) meanings may interfere with one another if they are studied at the
same time.
3. It is more effective to study words regularly over several short sessions than to study
them for one or two longer sessions. Repetition and review should take place almost
immediately after studying a word for the first time.
4. Teach 5 7 words at a time, dividing larger number of words into smaller groups.
5. Associating a visual image with a word helps learners remember the word.
6. A wide variety of L2 information can be added for further elaboration. Newly met
words can be consciously associated with other L2 words that the learner already
knows: sentence examples, parts of speech, definitions, and images can be added.
Writers distinguish between the acquisition and the learning of vocabulary. Vocabulary
can be acquired or picked up, through exposure to authentic samples of the target language. It
may also be learned consciously or deliberately, and this process may depend to a great extent
on your presentation and learner techniques. The deliberate learning of vocabulary is
successful especially if the words learned are not complicated and if the learning is meaningful.
Memory is aided if the pupil is encouraged to make as many cues or memory triggers as
possible when committing the vocabulary item to memory. These cues can take the form of:

a visual reminder such as a picture or diagram (the use of colour can be very
effective)
the sound and rhythm of the word (this is why repetition practice is helpful)
the inclusion of the item in a sentence which is bizarre and/or personal
a translation of the item in Romanian.

Most importantly, the association of one item with another item aids memory.
Pupils will remember best those lexical items in which they have an interest, or which
they can associate with other words, objects, colours and so on.
Presenting new vocabulary
How do you present new vocabulary items in class? Various techniques are available.
These include:

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definition: a simplified version of a dictionary entry

illustration: a picture or a blackboard drawing
context: using the item in a sentence
mime: acting the meaning
synonym: using a word or phrase with roughly the same meaning
antonym: using a word or phrase with roughly the opposite meaning


superordinate: using a more general category, of which the new item is a
member / hyponym (e.g. chair, table, stool, wardrobe, sofa are all hyponyms of the
category furniture. Furniture is the superordinate term.

translation: often the simplest way to present a new item is to translate it.
Which techniques you choose will depend upon circumstances and type of item being
introduced. Concrete items are often best introduced through pictures or translation. Asking the
pupils to suggest synonyms and antonyms is a way of extending vocabulary by considering
various shades of meaning and of expanding the range of the pupils command of English.
Teaching vocabulary using sets
Think of three different ways in which new words can be
grouped for learning purposes, and write your suggestions in the
space provided below. Look for more ideas as you are reading this
section.

The view that vocabulary is in some way systematic has been partly responsible for the
idea of teaching vocabulary in lexical sets where this is possible and appropriate. Hence, you
may use sets such as:
types of transport
English money
rooms in a house
professions
services
weather, etc.
or sets such as:

degrees of fear (e.g. anxious / petrified)

ways of walking (e.g. stagger, tiptoe)
degrees of raining (e.g. drizzling / bucketing down)
opposites in food description (e.g. disgusting vs. delicious; savoury vs. sweet), etc.
personal characteristics concerning people (e.g. sociable)

There are, however, areas of vocabulary where it might not be appropriate to teach in
sets:
1.
where a word has multiple meaning, you would want not to teach all the
meanings of that word at the same time;
2.
collocations are by nature one-offs;
3.
connotation: for instance, youths is used to mean something different from young
people; and slim is used to mean something different from skinny. The connotational meaning
of words can be taught in contrasting pairs, but other than this they are not systematically
teachable;
4.
idioms: these are more likely to occur in informal language than in formal
language. Idiomatic language includes such commonly used phrases as as well (e.g. He took
out an insurance policy as well) and such uncommonly used phrases as between the devil and
the deep blue sea. Clearly, we cannot teach idiomatic language systematically; what we must
do, however, is systematically select what aspects of it are worth teaching to our pupils.
To summarise, the knowledge that lexis does (to a certain extent) have a system should
help you to make decisions about how to select and organise vocabulary for teaching purposes.

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The basic principle of lexical meaning is that: the meaning of a word is in its use and in
its relationship with other words, so, when teaching vocabulary, contexts are better than
definitions and network diagrams of lexical relationships are useful too.
Elaboration
Knowing an English word means a lot more than just its translated meaning or its
English synonyms. There are various aspects of word knowledge such as knowing related
grammatical patterns, affixes, common lexical sets, typical associations, how to use the word
receptively and productively, and so on. Expanding the connections between what the learners
already know and new information involves elaboration. One way to elaborate is to choose
English words from the surrounding context and to explain their connections to the recently
learned word. Also, teachers should create opportunities to meet these useful, recently learned
words in new contexts and provide new collocations and associations. Exercises that can
deepen pupils knowledge of words include:

Sorting lists of words and deciding on the categories;

Making semantic maps with lists either provided by the teacher or generated by
the learners;
Generating derivatives, inflections, synonyms, and antonyms of a word;
Making trees that show the relationships between superordinates, coordinates,
and specific examples;
Identifying or generating associated words;
Combining phrases from several columns;
Matching parts of collocations using two columns;
Completing collocations as a cloze activity;
Playing collocation crossword puzzles or bingo.

Much of what has been written about teaching vocabulary contains the assuption that
vocabulary learning should be in context. This assumption is not supported by reasearch and by
what successful learners do. Considerable research shows that (Nation, 271):

Explicit, decontextualised study of vocabulary is an effective way of rapidly

increasing learnes vocabulary size;
The learning achieved in this way can lasy for a very long time;
This knowledge can be made available for use;
There are ways that increase the efficiency of learning vocabulary and they include
the use of mnemonic techniques, using vocabulary cards, the spacing and
organizing of learning, and the deliberate avoidance of interference among items.

The deliberate learning of vocabulary may contribute directly to word knowledge if the
words learned are not complicated and ig the learning is meaningful.

Independent strategy development

This is done through students own mini-research and involves practising guessing from
context and training learners to use dictionaries when working on texts, projects, etc.
The current concern in teaching vocabulary is to offer a cocktail of techniques. Several
writers suggest various mnemonics to aid the memory process. Others advocate grouping
lexical items into various categories, associating items with pictures, colours or events, and so
on.
Various textbooks provide activity questions encouraging pupils to look at the way words
share affixes, how they are arranged in lexical sets or word families, and in phrases. Pupils play
with words to increase their language awareness by experimenting with homophones,
homonyms, idiom and imagery, collocations and cultural cues.
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10

Other textbooks offer activities requiring pupils to predict which words they are likely to
find in a specified text, or to draw their own pictures as frames for learning and remembering
new words. Yet others use pictures to stimulate vocabulary acquisition. (One such activity
requires the pupils, in groups, to study six pictures of single items and create a narrative which
will include all these items. The stories are then read out to other groups who have to guess
what the six pictures were).
Most textbook writers try in one way or another to make vocabulary learning an
interactive process, using pair, group or teamwork, competitions and games.
Recent approaches to teaching vocabulary do not totally reject rote learning. This is
generally accepted as a valid method of dealing with new lexical items. But it is only one
method, and like any other method, not suitable for all learners at all times.
Penny Ur (1996: 65 67) shows that lexical items are learnt more easily if:

they have clear, easily comprehensible meanings;

they can be linked to other items though meaning or sound association;

they are taught and reviewed for brief periods in several different parts of the
lesson;

they have personal or emotive significance.

Independent strategy development: pupils own vocabulary extension
As the emphasis on learner independence deepens, you may also think of the amount of
time and number of activities that you spend on learner training in class, aimed at helping your
pupils to develop autonomy in vocabulary learning. The skills concerned, once acquired, will
enable your pupils to become independent learners of vocabulary outside the classroom. There
are a number of ways of fostering learner independence in the area of vocabulary:

Brainstorming
A useful technique is getting pupils into the habit of brainstorming around a topic area
that is being focussed on. This helps them to reactivate known vocabulary and also warm them
for a particular topic. In class, for example, ask your pupils in groups to note down every item of
vocabulary that relates to, say, bedroom. This can work particularly well at later levels and can
be made competitive.
The visual element in brainstorming can reinforce learning. The pupils may be given a
key word and asked to put it in a box in the middle of a piece of paper. They then think of all the
associated words they can. Each of these branches off on a line drawn out from the key word
and is written in its own circle. Each word may itself become a minor key word with branches
going off it.
If you give them the word bedroom, for example, ask them to think first of the large
items in a bedroom, then of the small ones, and finally of the things that surround them.
If you were asked to draw the network of associated words for
bedroom, what words would you contribute, and how would you organize
them? Draw your meaning network for the word bedroom.

The point of the exercise is that the pupils are creating their own word associations, and
the information collected is visually striking and thus they likely to be remembered more easily.
Out of class, they may mentally run through or note down any words they can think of
related to, for example, the topic of a film they are about to watch on TV, or of an article they are
going to read for homework. It can be done in preparation for a task (e.g. writing about a
particular topic; explaining areas of interest or hobbies, etc.)

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11

Guessing from context

The context offers clues to the meaning of an unknown word. (Is the word a verb? A
noun? An adjective? Does it refer to a being? A thing? A concept? etc.) The same unknown
word may occur a number of times in the text, and the variety of contexts in which it occurs, the
importance of the word to understanding the text all these contribute to facilitating or hindering
the use of these clues.
However, guessing from context is a complex and often difficult strategy to carry out
successfully. To guess from context, learners need to know about 19 out of every 20 words
(95%) of a text (Hunt and Beglar, 262), which requires knowing the 3,000 most common words.
Even when one knows these words, unless the context is very constrained, which is a relatively
rare occurrence, or unless there is a relationship with a known word identifiable on the basis of
form and supported by context, there is little chance of guessing the correct meaning. Moreover,
because guessing from context fails to direct attention to word form and meaning, relatively little
learning occurs.
At least in the early stages of the development of the guessing skill, learenrs have to
consciously focus on unknown words, interrupting their normal reading, and systematically
drawing on the avauilable clues to work out the unknown words meaning. Guessing from
context focuses on the particular reference of a word as determined by the context rather than
on its underlying meaning. Guessing may also serve to raise consciousness of the word.
(Nation, 271)
Although this strategy often may not result in gaining a full understanding of word
meaning and form, guessing from context may still contribute to vocabulary learning. Just what
is and what is not learned will partly depend on text difficulty as well as learners level. More
proficient learners can be expected to use this strategy more effectively than low proficiency
level learners. Although time-consuming, if regularly practised, this strategy may contribute to
deeper word knowledge for advanced learners as long as they pay attention to the word and its
context (collocations, associations, related grammatical patterns). To this, we may add raising
the learners confidence in guessing from context, and making learners sensitive to the range of
clues available.
Can you arrange the steps of this strategy from the first to the last?
Use numbers from 1 5 to arrange the steps in an order that makes sense
to you:
guessing the meaning of the unknown word
checking that the guess is correct
looking at the relationship between the clause containing the
unknown word and surrounding clauses and sentences
finding the part of speech of the unknown word
looking at the immediate context of the unknown word and
simplifying this context if necessary
A dictionary may be consulted to confirm the guess. This strategy is recommended as a
class rather than as individual work. It should also be demonstrated by the teacher by circling
the unknown word and drawing arrows from other words that give clues to its meaning.

Pupils find words in the text which mean

This activity can be done in pairs or groups. Deducing meaning from context is a skill
which needs to be practised in class, with emphasis on the contextual clues that can help your
pupils deduce meaning (e.g. part of speech, synonyms elsewhere in the text and so on). This is
a fairly standard activity in many textbooks nowadays.

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12

Dictionary work

Bilingual dictionaries have been found to result in vocabulary learning. A bilingual

dictionary may be much more likely to help lower-proficiency learners in reading comprehension
because their lack of vocabulary can be a significant factor in their inability to read.
Bilingual dictionaries have some advantages over monolingual dictionaries, especially if
they provide L2 definitions, L2 sentence examples as well as L1 synonyms.
Electronic dictionaries with multimedia annotations offer a further option, especially when
both pictures and text are available for students. (See CD-ROM dictionaries published by
Collins COBUILD, Longman, and Oxford).
Training in the use of dictionaries is essential. In addition to learning the symbols and
what information a dictionary can and cannot offer, learners may need extra practice for words
with many entries. Furthermore, learners need to be taught to use all the information in an entry
before making conclusions about the meaning of a word. The learners attention should also be
directed toward the value of sentence examples which provide collocational, grammatical and
pragmatic information about words. Finally, the teacher should emphasise the importance of
checking a words original context carefully and comparing this to the entry chosen, because
context determines which sense of a word is being used.
Pupils must be trained in this and there are such exercises in many textbooks. Once the
pupils have acquired this skill, dictionaries can lend themselves to a number of useful classroom
activities:
Can you remember any classroom activity that involves the use
of the dictionary?

A lot has been said about the use of dictionaries. While all EFL teachers will agree that a
dictionary, properly used, is a valuable tool for the language learner, it is also recognised that
there are potential problems. Sensible use of a good dictionary can lead to learner autonomy;
that is, the learner will be able to continue learning outside the classroom. Over-reliance on the
dictionary, on the other hand, can slow down the learning process. The meanings of many
words can be guessed form the context in which they occur, and if pupils automatically reach for
the dictionary every time they come across a new word, they are denying themselves genuine
learning opportunities.
Dictionary work is helped if pupils are familiar with the names of the parts of speech and
their dictionary abbreviations, as this allows them to become immediately familiar with the new
words function in an utterance.
The dictionaries themselves vary in their value to the learner. At one end of the scale are
the small bilingual dictionaries which provide one-word Romanian equivalents. As the meaning
of a word tends to change according to the context in which it is used, the chances of getting
the wrong meaning with this type of dictionary are fairly high. At the other end of the scale, we
find dictionaries where the definition of the word is written in language too complex for the pupil
to understand. It is probably better to choose a dictionary specially produced for pupils, which
recognises this problem and tries to simplify its definitions. In this type of dictionary, definitions
are not reduced to note form: they usually consist of a full sentence showing how a lexical item
is used in a particular situation or for a particular purpose.
By facilitating the pupils use of dictionaries and other skills concerning vocabulary, you
are helping them become more independent and more in control of their own learning outside
the classroom.

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13

Use of the phonetic script

Another element that most EnglishEnglish and English Romanian dictionaries offer is
the phonetic script / transcription of the words. You may think that asking your pupils to learn
the International Phonetics Association (IPA) symbols is asking too much. As with any aspect of
language teaching, there are arguments both for and against this point of view. Here are the
reasons why some attempt to introduce the IPA system should be made:
If knowing a word means, among other things, knowing how to pronounce it
acceptably, then the ability to transcribe it in phonemic symbols is obviously a valuable
teaching/learning aid. The phonemic transcription avoids the perils of English spelling, as here
one symbol equals one sound.

Although a symbol chart looks rather frightening at first glance, it is really quite
easy to learn the phonemes of English. There are only 44 of them, and half of these are the
normal English letters, with others very close.

Knowledge of the IPA symbols is extremely helpful to dictionary work. Problems

with awkward words such as cough and bough disappear if the learner can discover in a
dictionary that cough is pronounced /kf/ and bough /bau/.
It is worth mentioning that, if the phonetic script is taught imaginatively, pupils enjoy it.
Many see it as a secret code they can use for their messages and become quite proud of their
skill once they have learnt the symbols.
An ability with the phonetic script helps to give you and your pupils a knowledge of what
happens generally to sounds as they move from their decontextualised form to their
contextualised form. This knowledge will help you to appreciate the difficulties your pupils face,
especially in listening. This will benefit the preparation of your lessons and the anticipation of
the difficulties that your pupils are up against. Teaching and practising the phonetic script with
pupils will also facilitate knowledge of the most obvious phonetic differences between Romanian
and English, which will help you in anticipating and dealing with errors (both reception errors
and production errors) in the classroom.

Awareness of the role played by prefixes and suffixes

The majority of words in English come from French, Latin, or Greek and the majority of
these have word parts, particularly prefixes and suffixes. Knowledge of these word parts can be
used to improve the learning of many words through relating unknown word forms and
meanings to known word parts. This is similar to the effect of mnemonic devices on vocabulary
learning. This can help your pupils to expand their vocabulary store. You can ask pupils, in
groups, to think of as many words as they can which end in ship but have nothing to do with
water, and then write sentences showing how each word is used. A group scores one point for
each word none of the other groups has thought of, plus one point for each word used correctly
in a sentence.
The effect of such learning is to add to explicit knowledge. This will contribute to implicit
knowledge receptively because it is a very strong form of consciousness-raising, and
productively through the deliberate production of meaning-focused output.
Developing fluency with known vocabulary
Fluency-building activities recycle already known words in familiar grammatical or
organizational patterns so that learners can focus on recognizing or using words without
hesitation.
According to Nation, the following learning conditions favour the development of fluency
(Nation, p. 270):

The demands of the task are within the experience of the learners; that is, the
learners are working with known language items, familiar ideas, and familiar tasks.
Fluency activities should not involve unfamiliar vocabulary.
The learners focus is on the message;

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14

The learners are encouraged to reach a higher level of performance, through the use
of repetition, time pressure, and planning and preparation.

Fluency partly depends on developing sight vocabulary (receptive vocabulary) through

extensive reading and studying high-frequency vocabulary. Fluency exercises include timed and
paced readings. In timed readings, learners may try to increase their speed by sliding a card or
a piece of paper down the page to increase their speed while attempting to comprehend about
80% of a passage. Also, learners need to be given practice in looking at groups or words rather
than each individual word when reading. Teachers can ask learners to practice timed reading
on passage that have already been read.
In paced readings, the teacher determines the time and pushes the learners to read
faster. One type of paced reading is the reading sprint in which learners read their pleasurereading book for 5 minutes and count the number of pages they have read. Then they try to
read the same number of pages while the time they read decreases from 5 minutes to 4 to 3 to
2 minutes for each sprint. Finally they read for five minutes at a relaxed pace and count the
number of pages they have finished.

Use of games

Puzzles always entertain, and word puzzles develop vocabulary at the same time. Tell
your pupils you are going to get from sick to well by changing one letter at a time so that
each new formation is an acceptable word. Demonstrate as follows: sick silk sill sell
well. Then ask the pupils in pairs to get from cold to warm in the same way (cold
cord word worm warm).
Ask your pupils to find hidden words in a text. For example, ask them to find six capital
cities in the following text. The answers are highlighted here for easy reference, but would not
be in the pupils text, of course.
I needed to call on Donald last week and found the trip a risky one. I went on my horse
and had a mad ride along the street charging at hens and cocks, boys and girls. Go slowly, I
shouted. Was I brave? A hero? Me? Never.
Young learners also enjoy taking words to pieces and making new words out of the
letters. This is an activity which is simple to prepare and mark, can be made into a competition,
and provides an opportunity for them to experiment and be creative with language in group
interaction. The word tempo, for example, yields met, pot, toe, mop, mope mote,
me, pet, top and poem.
These are just a few ideas for developing vocabulary. Many others can be found in
methodology books and textbooks. What you need to do is to develop a clear programme for
the systematic development of your pupils vocabulary, as vocabulary acquisition is much too
important to be left to chance.
Bear in mind, however, that vocabulary should be taught:
regularly
in balance with all the other aims of your syllabus
whenever the pupils express a desire to know.
It is the teachers job to establish priorities and make choices.
Vocabulary teaching cannot account for all the words our pupils actually learn. Some
authors hypothesized that successful learners use a guessing approach: as readers or listeners,
they look for clues in the text and build a mental representation of what they think the text says.
This has been called the top-down model of reading and listening. In contrast to this approach,
the more traditional approaches view reading and listening as decoding of letters into sounds
and ultimately meaning (the bottom-up approach). More recent theories claim that both
approaches are important.
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15

Typically, pupils are poor decoders (readers and listeners) since their vocabulary is poor.
At the same time, they are already literate in Romanian, and are familiar with top-down
processing. When a pupils vocabulary is poor, this needs to make big efforts to recognize
vocabulary. Her/his short-term memory is so taxed that s/he cannot take full advantage of the
context. However, a good reader or listener, who has sufficient command of the language,
recognizes words automatically or in context.

Summary
This lecture explores aspects of the lexicon and vocabulary teaching within the
framework of the communicative approach to language pedagogy. It does not claim to say all
there is to say about vocabulary or vocabulary teaching. In spite of the long history that
vocabulary teaching has, applied linguists and language teachers are paying now renewed
attention to it after decades of relative neglect. There is still much work to be done and many
perspectives to be considered and tried in the classroom. In this unit, we looked at the
difference between active and passive vocabulary and at the pedagogic considerations that you
need to take into account when dealing with vocabulary. We described many techniques for the
teaching of vocabulary, discussing their advantages and disadvantages, including both new and
old activities.
In more traditional textbooks, new vocabulary appears as columns of words to be
learned, with the Romanian translation provided. Often there is no general pattern to the words:
it is simply a matter of rote learning. This does not mean that rote learning is to be condemned.
For many pupils it is a valuable learning tool. We do however need to be aware of its limitations
and introduce a variety of techniques in our teaching.
As learners vocabulary expands in size and depth, extensive reading and independent
strategies may be increasingly emphasised. Extensive reading and listening, translation,
elaboration, fluency activities, guessing from context, and using dictionaries all have a role to
play in systematically developing the learners vocabulary knowledge.
The vocabulary component of a course can be largely indistinguishable from the
listening, speaking, reading and writing parts of the language programme. The main difference
lies in the deliberate, language-focused learning and in the deliberate planning and
manipulation of the written input to listening, speaking, reading, and writing activities to provide
optimal conditions for vocabulary growth.

Further Reading
Carter, R. and McCarthy M., 1988, Vocabulary and Language Teaching, Longman, pp. 39-60,
62-83, 97-111, 181-201
Hunt, Alan and Beglar, David. Current research and Practice in Teaching Vocabulary in
Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: CUP, pp. 258 266.
Nation, P., Best Practice in Vocabulary Teaching and Learning in Richards, Jack C. and
Renandya Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP, pp. 267
272.
Ur, P., 1996, A Course in Language Teaching, CUP, pp. 60-69

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16

Catedra de Limba si Literatura engleza

EFL Methodology for English majors year II

TEACHING PRONUNCIATION
The pronunciation (also known as phonology) of English tends to be neglected by EFL
teachers and this seems to be due to anxiety and, sometimes, ignorance, although
pronunciation is a component of any lesson. It includes the role of individual sounds and
sound segments as well as suprasegmental features such as stress, rhythm, and intonation.
Many teachers, however, are unsure as to the status of pronunciation and whether or how it
should receive systematic attention in a language class. Some even think that the more
subtle aspects of pronunciation, such as rhythm and intonation may be simply picked up
through exposure.
The fact that few second language learners are able to speak a foreign language
without showing evidence of the transfer of pronunciation features of their native language is
evidence of the difficulty of acquiring native-like pronunciation, but also of the goals learners
set for themselves. Many learners do not mind showing evidence of their native language
since it is sometimes viewed as a part of their cultural identity.
It is impossible to teach English without giving some attention to pronunciation. In the
process of teaching (and learning) English you need ears trained to diagnose mistakes and
vocal organs under control to produce accurate English sounds. Every word, every syllable,
every sound uttered by the teacher may contribute to the pupils learning of pronunciation.
However, pupils learn how to pronounce English not only when the teacher is deliberately
and overtly concentrating on pronunciation. They may learn pronunciation when you believe
you are putting the weight of your teaching on grammar or vocabulary, or when you are just
socialising with them.
In this unit you are introduced to the type of awareness and knowledge about
pronunciation that an EFL teacher needs, and also to some of the terms and concepts used
to talk about it.
Pronunciation includes two systems: the phonemic system (the sounds) and the
intonation system. Stress and rhythm are normally seen as part of the intonation system.
However, in this unit, they will be dealt with as a separate component. Therefore, this unit
deals with the sounds of the language (or phonology), stress and rhythm, and intonation.

Key Concepts: sounds, stress and rhythm and intonation, native models and
accents, international English, the functions of intonation, elision, assimilation, weakening,
intrusion, catenation, minimal pairs, phonetic notation/alphabet, exhortation
By the end of this unit you will be able to:
operate with a basic working knowledge of English sounds, stress, rhythm and
intonation;
identify the ways in which these systems operate in speech;
identify the problems your pupils are having in assimilating these systems, both
from the receptive and productive points of view;
apply the practical guidance and the techniques of teaching pronunciation.
Quite a lot of things are known about the sounds of English and about how these work
as a system. Something is known about the components of intonation (i.e. pitch height, tones
and voice range), but only a little is known about how these work together as a system. In
fact, intonation was not really seen as a system until quite recently. Discourse analysts put
forward a theory that intonation, among various functions that it plays in language use (e.g. in
helping to convey attitude), also has the function of structuring discourse. Intonation can be
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seen as a system for signalling openings, closings, contrasts, emphases, parentheses,

backward linking, forward linking, and so on.
In order to teach pronunciation, you need to be able to analyse it both from a
theoretical point of view and from the point of view of your pupils difficulties. You need to be
aware of its characteristics, so that you can make it manageable for your pupils. In other
words, you need to have enough knowledge and awareness of pronunciation to make
reasoned and flexible decisions in the classroom.

Pronunciation and effective communication

To communicate effectively, English learners need to become proficient in using
semantic, syntactic, lexical, morphological and phonological elements of the language. They
also need to understand its pragmatic use. Intelligibility entails more than simply using
appropriate lexical items and correct word order. Words stressed incorrectly or with
inappropriate pitch or intonation will impede the learner in getting the intended message
across. The incorporation of a phonological component into the English lessons is based on
the following assumptions about oral communication (after Herbert, 188 9):
1. Speaking involves two or more people and it is not the oral expression of written
language.
2. Spoken language imparts referential and affective meaning. When we speak we
reveal our interest and attitudes toward the topic being discussed and toward the
people we are speaking with. These messages are largely conveyed through the
prosodic features of language: stress and rhythm, intonation, pitch variation and
volume. This is why pronunciation should be learned in context.
3. Native-like speech takes time and is not always a realistic goal. It is probably
better to focus on the global aspects of oral production than on accuracy, except
in cases where inadvertent mispronunciations will cause embarrassment.
Intelligibility will not always be affected if a learner substitutes one phoneme for
another; however, saying a statement with a rising intonation contour when the
intent is to impart information, will make the listener encounter difficulty in
understanding meaning.
4. Not all difficulties will be at the level of production; some will be associated with
perception.
5. Learners need to have some understanding of the role phonology plays in
language learning, as the role phonology plays is not so obvious and needs to be
explained. With low level students the teacher needs to use simplified
terminology, graphic and gestural representations.

Pronunciation and students age

The majority of Romanian pupils can imitate almost all of the sound features of
English with reasonable accuracy. This is explained by the fact that the degree of overlap
between Romanian and English is large, and the majority of sounds are familiar and do not
present any learning difficulty. Thus the pupils powers of mimicry can be concentrated on
less than the whole phonetic and phonological system. Most sound features can be learnt by
mimicry alone, as learners have a pronunciation-learning ability independent of any need for
instruction.
The differences between the majority of learners of a given age in terms of their
phonetic abilities are relatively small. Generally speaking, the younger the learners, the less
variation there is in language ability. The most important language variables affecting ones
pronunciation include:
willingness to learn;
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 possession of a good ear (i.e. good auditory discrimination);

instinctive ability to mimic (i.e. good control of speech mechanisms and good
monitoring of ones own performance);
speed of learning;
previous experience of foreign languages;
changes brought about by age.

The native model

Any foreign language taught in school follows a native-speaker model. The pupils (and
you) are given for imitation the English spoken by a native speaker. In the case of English,
the choice of the native-speaker model is not very easy, as there are more than one models.
If for dialect the choice is easier standard English in the case of accent, you need to
answer such questions as: How do I want my pupils to speak English: British-ly, American-ly,
Australian-ly, Canadian-ly, or internationally?
Today, the choice of the model has to be made in full awareness of the status of
English as the leading language in international communication.

How does one speak English internationally?

People coming from different cultures and speaking in different manners can
communicate in English if they know how to seek a common ground and adapt their way of
speaking English. Finding a common ground requires their adaptation to the situation and
fellow participants, and responsibility to adapt. Native English speakers must also adapt in
such situations.
Adaptation requires the speakers willingness to temporarily modify ones cultural
identity, and an awareness of what is involved in cross-cultural communication and
communicative skills. Not all situations call for the same degree of adaptation. A speaker of
English as a foreign language, who feels secure as an English speaker, will be flexible
enough to speak English internationally.
How can you ensure that your pupils will acquire a tolerant
attitude and that they will be sensitive to various manners of
speaking English?

What accent is desirable?

In spite of the impression of monolithic character, the English language displays many
variation phenomena: from various accents, to different lexical items used to name similar
entities, to slightly different grammatical structures. What is a desirable target accent for
foreign learners? Is it Received Pronunciation (RP), BBC English, Oxford English, the
Queens English, a posh accent, a nice voice, or speaking without an accent?
In favour of Received Pronunciation would be many of the teaching materials on the
market, and the fact that this accent is perceived in many places as regionless. However, it is
perceived as a standard accent only in England, and as English (that is, foreign) in
Scotland, for instance. The status and prestige of RP have declined lately, and the strongest
evidence for this is that BBC has permitted announcers to use British regional accents.
Should we adopt General American then? This is a strong rival to Received
Pronunciation as a model accent. It the most widespread member of a set of American
accents, an educated regional accent used mainly in the eastern American states.

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Our learners are frequently exposed to American usage via television, the cinema
and other aspects of the mass media, and many children pick up an American accent from
watching cartoons. But the choice between a British or an American accent remains an open
question, and most often it is the individual choice of each learner.

The native model and the teachers English

From the perspective of pronunciation, especially, non-native EFL teachers are in a
vulnerable position. They may not feel comfortable when speaking English in front of the
class, as their pupils may be aware that occasional mistakes occur in their speech. Moreover,
the pupils, who are accustomed to the sound of English from taped native speakers, may
question their pronunciation.
As non-native EFL teachers, we are placed in a position of insecurity. Some of us may
seek defence and ways of minimising this threat. The traditional grammar - translation
activities can be the expression of such a defence. Using such activities, you do not have to
speak English, and thus you minimise the risk of making mistakes in front of the pupils. Given
the reliance on strict grammar rules, you are in a position of being correct; a grammar book is
at your hand to support your knowledge. Translation, an ability you have acquired after much
practice, leaves you unchallenged. Also, by focussing on grammar and translation, questions
of content are avoided. Grammar correctness is the target: form is uppermost, content
secondary. The risk is that such teachers do not perceive themselves as being speakers of
English and their pupils may inherit the same perception.
Can the grammar-translation method prepare the pupils for the use of English for
communication? Can it provide the pupils with a perception of English as a living language in
its full range of functions, including that of international language?
Reaching native speaker standards may be a futile endeavour, an unattainable goal,
both for you and for many of our pupils.Even if you see the native model as a desirable
target, the purpose of teaching and learning pronunciation is seldom to attain the perfection
of the native model. Your purpose in teaching English pronunciation is limited to attainment of
intelligibility. Your English will be as close to the chosen model as you can manage, but it will
still remain different from it in some ways. However, this should not create frustration,
inferiority complex or demoralisation.

Receptive fluency vs. productive fluency

A fundamental principle of teaching pronunciation is that pupils need to acquire a much
greater degree of receptive fluency than productive fluency in their learning of English.
Do you agree with this principle? Why do you think pupils need
more receptive fluency than productive fluency in a foreign language?

The most obvious effect of this principle on your teaching is that you need to spend
more time on developing your pupils appreciation of sounds, sound sequences, stress and
intonation through listening skills activities than through speaking skills activities.
A further implication of the principle is that your pupils need neither aspire to nor
achieve perfection in their production of English pronunciation. If they are realistic, they need
only attain an approximation of English sounds, and thereby retain something of their foreign
accent.
The aim of teaching pronunciation is not to achieve a perfect imitation of a native
accent, but to get the learner to pronounce accurately enough to be easily and comfortably
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comprehensible to other competent speakers. Perfect accents are difficult if not impossible
for most learners to achieve in a foreign language, and not always desirable. Many people
even if often subconsciously feel they wish to maintain a slight mother-tongue accent as an
assertion of personal or ethnic identity. This feeling should be respected.
However, some pupils are concerned to sound like native speakers, and so you need
to work on the accurate production of sounds.

The components of pronunciation

You do not have to take your pupils systematically through all the components of
pronunciation; you do not have to teach each English vowel and consonant and later rhythm
and intonation. Rather, you need to concentrate on some chosen features that cause
difficulty.

Sounds

Traditionally, the teaching of English pronunciation was concerned primarily with sound
production. Pupils were encouraged to approximate as far as possible to a native speaker
model. In recent years, a concern with fluency rather than accuracy has led to the recognition
that perfect pronunciation is not absolutely necessary for a message to be conveyed
effectively. Consequently, more attention is paid to intonation, stress and rhythm.
EFL teachers concentrate on the production of sounds only when they identify sources
of unintelligibility or confusion. For instance, your pupils may often have a false idea of what a
particular sound in English is, based on the sounds of Romanian. The classic example is the
confusion Romanian pupils make between [] and [s]. They may in fact need training to
appreciate the difference. Failure to articulate the difference may make them sound foreign,
but is unlikely to create a barrier to communication. Nevertheless, failure to discriminate
between think and sink may create problems.
An even greater problem can be the comprehension of stretches of language in which
sounds have changed in connected speech. Therefore, it is useful for you to be able to list
and define the sounds of English by writing them down using phonetic notation, and to
organise practice in sound discrimination and articulation.

Rhythm and stress

Intelligibility in English depends more on the correct use of stress and rhythm than on
the correct pronunciation of individual sounds.
English speech rhythm is characterised by tone units. A tone unit is a word or group of
words that carries one central stressed syllable. Stress is most commonly indicated by a
slight rise in intonation. The rhythm of English is, then, mainly a function of its stress patterns;
these may also affect such aspects as speed of delivery, volume and the use of pause.
Romanian learners encounter difficulties, as the notion of stress is alien to them.
Romanian is a syllable-timed language: each syllable takes up approximately the same
amount of time in an utterance. English is a stress-timed language, which has stressed
syllables occurring at approximately equal time intervals, irrespective of how many
unstressed syllables occur between them.
English teachers who are relatively uninformed about phonetics give little importance
to mistakes due to rhythmic inaccuracy. However, a clear understanding of the phonetic
aspects of the spoken language is important, not only for a correct evaluation of the pupils
oral performance, but also for providing them with the most accurate model of the spoken
language.

Intonation

The rises and falls in tone make the tune of an utterance. Intonation is an important
aspect of the pronunciation of English, deciding differences to meaning or implication.
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5

Pupils usually perceive their learning in terms of sounds, words, sentences, and do not
concentrate on intonation. This results in an oral production that is very monotonous.
Moreover, Romanian has a narrower voice-range than English. Hence our pupils may sound
unwittingly aggressive or rude when speaking English. Such errors of intonation may cause
irritation in listeners, since the intended function is likely to be misinterpreted.
The importance of intonation is crucial especially at beginners level, when language
production is minimal, and intonation is the best vehicle for social appropriacy. Its importance
as a language system cannot be denied. As such, the least we can do is to make pupils
aware of it, as we do with grammar. This suggests that making pupils aware, at a very early
stage, of the importance and the system of English intonation is desirable. Exposure to the
language should be constant and this should lead to an increased sense or feel for the
music of English.

The functions of intonation

English intonation carries meaning in subtle and complex ways. It has three functions:
grammatical, attitudinal and discoursal.
The grammatical function of intonation denotes or reinforces certain grammatical
patterns. Grammatical function is realised by various intonation contours/patterns/tones.
Such contours accompany wh-questions, yes/no questions, statements, question-tags,
either/or questions, etc. Thus it is said that a falling pitch change accompanies wh-questions
while a fall-rise pitch change accompanies yes/no questions.
Other intonation regularities, connected to attitudes, can also be observed. Such
features as the width of voice range and the pitch height at the start of an utterance are
considered to be part of the attitudinal function of intonation. For instance, more emotion
leads to a wider voice range, and less emotion leads to a narrower voice range. Uncertainty
is denoted by fall-rise and indignation by rise-fall changes, respectively.
A third function of intonation was proposed by discourse analysts: the discoursal
function. Intonation can be seen as a system for structuring discourse: signalling openings,
closings, contrasts, emphases, parentheses, backward linking, forward linking, and so on. It
is used to show that the speaker is either referring to something that both speaker and
listener know about (because it has been mentioned earlier or is physically present in the
setting), or to show that the speaker is proclaiming some new information. A fall-rise pitch
change refers the listener to an actual or known thing. A falling pitch change introduces a
specific unknown thing.
Intonation can also signify aspect: a fall-rise pitch change can signify that you want to
engage the listener, that you envisage rapport, however short-lived the relationship. The
fall-rise pitch change has been called the convergent pattern, where the falling pitch change
has been called the divergent pattern. Also, a falling pitch change tends to denote finality,
while a fall-rise denotes incompleteness or doubt.

The flow of speech

English is unusual among languages for the changes that occur when it is spoken at
normal speed: the individual sounds contained in and between words can often change their
character. The main reason for this tendency in connected speech is that English is stresstimed. The rhythm units force sounds to be said together or shortened in order for the regular
rhythm of speech to be maintained. For pupils the problem can be difficult, not so much when
they learn to produce the language orally, but when they listen to native speakers.
Different sounds, stresses and intonations may affect one another within the flow of
speech. For example:

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 The way a sound is articulated is influenced by what other sounds are next to it:
e.g. the -ed suffix of the past tense may be pronounced [d], [t] or [id] depending on what
comes immediately before.
Intonation affects how we hear stress. In fact, stress is not usually expressed by
saying the stressed syllable louder: it is more often a matter of a raised or lowered tone level,
with a slight slowing-down.
A change in the stress pattern of a word will change its sounds as well: e.g. the
word record has the stress on the first syllable when it is a noun, on the second syllable when
it is a verb; and this makes a noticeable difference to the sound of the vowels.

Sound changes in the flow of speech

Can you write the following phrases in phonetic script:
roast beef
[
I asked him [
cold weather [

]
]
]

Elision

Elision (the suppression/omission of a sound) occurs frequently at the boundary

between two words, usually when the end of one word and the beginning of the next create a
consonant cluster, e.g.: pounds is reduced to [panz] and and to [n].
You must analyse model sentences and vocabulary very carefully before teaching
them, to give your pupils an accurate model.

Assimilation

Assimilation happens when a sound changes, because it is affected by the sound that
follows it:
What words or phrases can be transcribed like this?
[imput] ..
[ikm] ..

[hf t] .
[i gri:s] .

Weakening
Prepositions, articles (before consonants), and auxiliary verbs (including modals) tend
to be shorter and softer, and to have the neutral vowel [] when they occur in normal speech.
It is only when these parts of speech are given particular emphasis or when they are the final
word in a sentence that they are found in their strong form:
Should I go?
]
Yes, you should.
Vowels often get weakened to the schwa [] sound or disappear altogether, as in I
wonder if you could [ wndr if j kd]. Weakening is the most difficult problem for foreign
learners of English, a problem that you need to help them to become aware of and to
overcome. You need to teach your pupils first of all, to recognise natural pronunciation, and if
possible, to produce it accurately.

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Intrusion

Go away. [gwwei]
Intrusion happens when an extra sound is introduced to lubricate the flow from one
vowel to another. The sound is not indicated in the written form.

Catenation

This happens when a consonant at the end of one word is carried over to connect with
a vowel at the beginning of the next word:
Hes out. [hizat]
cup and saucer [kpns:s]
Catenation presents problems of aural understanding for pupils because it interferes
with their ability to hear word boundaries. Thus [greiteip] can be either grey tape or great
ape.
Intrusion does not seem to pose problems of understanding, but elision, assimilation,
weakening and catenation do. Having learned the words and their pronunciation in isolation,
your pupils may fail to recognise them when changes take place in connected speech. That
is why, it is important that you raise their awarereness of the way sounds, stress and
intonation interact within entire utterances to produce easily comprehensible pronunciation.
However, most words have a stable sound, stress and intonation pattern that can be
confidently taught in isolation.

Improving pupils pronunciation

Diagnosing pupils spoken English
The phonological problems you focus on need to be related to the problems the
learners are encountering. By collecting data of the learners general speaking habits, you
can identify individual learner problems and those common to the group. You can collect
samples of learners speech on cassette or video, although this may be traumatic for the
learners. However, you can make written or mental notes of the pupils mistakes and devise
a diagnostic learner profile with the following headings: clarity, speed, loudness, breathing,
fluency, voice, gestural expression, eye gaze, intonation, stree rhythm, consonants and
vowels. Firths (1987) diagnostic profile can be useful for determining those elements which
reflect the needs of the majority of the learners in the class.
A Suprasegmental level
General speaking habits
1. Clarity. Is the learners speech clear?
Are there instances where there is a breakdown in communication?
What are the major factors?
2. Speed. Does the learner speak too quickly?
Is her speech unintelligible because she speaks too quickly?
3. Loudness. Does the learner speak too softly?
Does the lack of volume affect intelligibility?
4. Breathing. Does the learner speak with appropriate pauses, breaking each
utterance into thought groups?
5. Fluency. Does the learner speak with either long silences between words or too
many filled pauses (e.g. ah ummm)?
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6. Voice. Is there enough variation in pitch?

7. Eye gaze. Does the learner use eye-gaze behaviour appropriate to the context
(e.g., facing a conversational partner or looking at the audience if delivering an
oral presentation)?
8. Expressive behaviour. Does the learner overuse gestures? Does the facial
expression match the utterance?
Intonation
1. Is the learner using appropriate intonation patterns in utterances? Can the learner
use intonation contours to signal whether utterances are statements, ;lists, whquestions or yes/no questions?
2. Is the learner changing pitch at the major stressed words?
Stress and rhythm
1. Word-level stress. Does the learner produce the schwa in unstressed syllables?
Does the learner use loudness and length to differentiate between stressed and
unstressed syllables?
2. Sentence-level stress. Does the learner stress each syllable equally? Is she able
to produce appropriate strong and weak stresses? Are lexical words stressed and
functional words unstressed? Does the learner place the tonic stress on the
appropriate words?
3.

Linking. Is the learner linking words appropriately? Are identical consonants

linked (e.g. top position)? Are vowels linked (e.g. pay up)? Are consonants linked
to vowels (e.g. top of)?
Segmental level
Consonants
1. Substitution. Is the learner substituting one phoneme for another?
2. Omission. Is the learner omitting consonants?
3. Articulation. Is the consonant being articulated properly (e.g. is /p/ aspirated wordinitially)?
4. Clusters. Are consonant clusters articulated properly?
5. Linking. Are consonants linked to each other?
Vowels
1. Substitution. Is one vowel being substituted for another?
2. Articulation. Is the learner articulating vowels correctly (e.g. lip rounding)?
3. Length. Do vowels have their appropriate length?
4. Reduction. Are vowels reduced in unstressed syllables?
5. Linking. Are vowels properly linked to other vowels across word boundaries?

After you analyse the data, you can identify the problems common to the majority of
learners and you can provide feedback to individual learners. You have to make some
decicions concerning what you can achieve in the time you have available, the areas that
should be given priority, the source of the problems (perception or production?) and the types
of activities that will help the learners improve their oral producation. Probably, with lower
level students, the focus should be on improving the learners intelligibility, that is the focus
should be on the suprasegmental level. Where the articulation of particular phonemes is
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causing problems, these should be dealt within the context of the word. Activities that help
the learner to perceive and produce utterances should be given equal weight.

Pupils pronunciation errors

Pupils errors of pronunciation may derive from various sources:

Several English sounds do not exist in Romanian. The pupils are not used to
forming them and therefore, they tend to substitute the nearest equivalent they know, e.g. []
tends to be substituted by by [e].

Certain sounds do exist in Romanian, but not as separate phonemes.

Consequently, the pupils do not perceive them as distinct sounds that make a difference to
meaning (e.g. [i] and [i:]).
The pupils have not learnt the stress patterns of the word or group of words, or they
are using a Romanian intonation, which is inappropriate to English. The result is a foreignsounding accent, and possibly misunderstanding.

Assisting the learning of pronunciation

Here are a few teaching techniques that can be used to assist pupils in learning
pronunciation:
1)
Checking that the pupils can hear and identify the sounds, intonation, rhythm or
stress, respectively. This can be done by:

requesting imitation of teachers model or recorded model of sounds, words and

sentences,
seeing if pupils can distinguish between minimal pairs (e.g. ship/sheep,
man/men, thick/tick, etc.)
recording of their speech, contrasted with native model (this can turn out to be
demoralising!)
encouraging pupil self-correction through listening to recordings of own speech.

While perception of sounds can be done using single words or even syllables, work on
stress and intonation nearly always needs to be based on longer units.
2) Using some explicit exhortation: you give the pupils instructions to initiate and
mimic, to make such and such a sound, without further explanation. Exhortation requires no
special training on your part and no special understanding on the part of the pupils. This may
involve the use of:

imitation drills: repetition of sounds, words and sentences

choral repetition of drills
varied repetition of drills (varied speed, volume, mood)
dialogues (using choral work, and varied speed, volume, mood)
learning by heart of sentences, short poems, etc.

3) Systematic explanation and instruction (including details of the structure and

movement of parts of the mouth). For sound formation, for instance, you can use a sketch
with a description of the organs of speech, and descriptions of the articulation of sounds in
terms of lips, tongue, teeth, a description of stress and rhythm etc.
These can be supplemented by the use of phonetic notation, ear training (i.e. practice
in auditory discrimination, see (1) above) and speech training exercises (i.e. practice in
making particular sounds, words and sentences, in isolation or in nonsense sequences (see
(4) below).
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10

4) Using special games and exercises for speech training that entail the use of words
or sentences to practice particular sounds, sequences of sounds, stress patterns, rhythm,
intonation, such as:

rhymes, jingles
jazz chants
tongue twisters, etc.

However, for most aspects of pronunciation a brief explanation is sufficient, followed by

demonstration and an invitation to imitate and practise.

Teaching English sounds

Very often the problem the pupils have in perceiving sounds is not that they cannot
identify them, but that they cannot distinguish them from other sounds. This may be because
the sound is perceived by the pupils to be the same as a Romanian sound, with which they
are already familiar. So, for example they may perceive [] and [s] or [] and [e] as being the
same.

Vowels
We learn to produce vowel sounds accurately by developing an ability to hear and
discriminate and then by experimenting until we can match the sound we hear. This is a
gradual process of approximation: very often after getting it right for the first time, the pupils
get it wrong again and have to keep on trying until they produce the sound accurately. Your
job is to provide the accurate model and to encourage and train your pupils, first to hear a
sound correctly, and then to produce it correctly. This includes drawing attention to vowel
length and lip position.
English has more vowels compared with Romanian. Consequently, Romanian pupils
encounter some difficulties in learning the English vowel system. On the other hand, a pupils
inability to produce vowels correctly is rarely a source of communication breakdowns.

Diphthongs
Diphthongs (two vowels run together) are not difficult to teach. You can break the
sound into its component parts and practice them separately, exaggerating the difference
between them. Then you can get the pupils to run them together, emphasising that the first
part of the sound receives heavier stress.

Consonants
Teaching consonants is a mixture of providing pupils with the right technical
information (bite your bottom lip when saying [f] or [v]), and of organizing practice activities
and careful monitoring of free speech and correction.
Technical information is of little use in learning to produce vowels and diphthongs. The
only way in which pupils manage to produce the right sounds is a trial and error process of
approximation to what they perceive to be the right ones. Even if in the case of consonants,
technical information is more helpful, this will not enable them to actually hear any difference
between sounds, either in their own performance or in other peoples.

Using minimal pairs

A minimal pair is a pair of words that are exactly the same, except for one sound, e.g.
bit and beat, cap and cat, etc. The use of such pairs is the basis for teaching pupils to
distinguish and perceive the differences.
A procedure for the use of minimal pairs involves three stages of pupil training.

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11

Can you arrange these three stages in the correct order

according to the objective of each stage? Number them from 1 to
3.
to perceive the sounds as different
to identify which is which
to produce each of the two sounds
Here is how you can organise work at each of the stages:
Stage I. You ask the pupils to indicate when the sound changes in a string such as:
bit, bit, bit, beat, beat, bit, etc. The pupils will have to shout out or show hands when they
hear a change.
It is important that the pupils identify the sound not only in isolation, but also in
sentences, in both stressed and unstressed positions. You can give them examples such as
The ship is old, the sheep is old, the sheep is old, etc.
Stage II. The simplest way to train the pupils to identify which sound is which is to
write each word of the minimal pair on the board, with a number by the side:
1) bit

2) beat

You give the word at random and the pupils shout out which number goes with it.
This exercise should also be done with the sounds in different environments, and with the
word in different parts of the sentence.
Stage III. You can say the number or hold up a picture, and the pupils say the word.
This can also be done in groups with one pupil saying one of the words (in context as well
as in isolation) and the others have to identify it by number or by picture. In this variant, you
will be monitoring and providing the pupils with feedback on their accuracy and progress.

Using the phonetic notation

Here are some advantages of using the phonetic
alphabet/notation/script. Can you think of any disadvantages?
List these after the advantages, in the space provided below.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)

It sensitises the pupils to sounds

It is useful for correction
It is a valuable study skill
It is used in textbooks and dictionaries and thus it can
support independent learning
It may be exploited in the pupils notes
It distracts attention from ordinary letter associations
It encourages a less teacher-centred attitude
It helps pronunciation.

Disadvantages:

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12


Why use phonetic alphabet / notation / script?
You may wonder whether a knowledge of the phonetic notation is of any practical help
to you in your teaching. Certainly, a knowledge of what happens to sounds in the context of
the utterance will help you to appreciate the difficulties your pupils face, especially in
listening.
An ability with the phonetic (tran)script helps you in the preparation of lessons and the
anticipation of the pupils difficulties. Teaching and practising the phonetic script with pupils
will also be facilitated. Also, a knowledge of the most characteristic phonetic differences
between Romanian and English is helpful, too.
The phonemic notation can be used for three purposes:

to introduce the sounds of English

to practise the sounds of English (in isolation and in combination)
to teach the phonetic alphabet itself to pupils at various levels of study.

How to use the phonetic notation?

First insist that the pupils have a copy of the phonetic alphabet attached to the inside
cover of their exercise book or make sure that there is one in the textbook. This can be
consulted individually, in class and outside. Then use it for activities such as:
1.
Copying: you select the words which the pupils will look up in a dictionary,
giving them the phonetic spellings.
2.
Matching: you give the pupils a list of sound symbols along with a list of
example words containing these sounds. You ask the pupils to match both sets, e.g.:
[i:]
[ai]
[e]
[i]
[a:]
[ ]
[o:]
[u]
[u:]
[ ]

hat
five
too
sit
path
cup
saw
see
ten
got

3.
Sorting: you ask the pupils to categorise a list of example words into two or
more groups, according to the vowel sound they contain, e.g.:
[i]

or

[i:]

sit, see, ill, eel, kneel, will, etc.

4.
Filling in: you present an example of a phonetic transcription entry, such as
[si:] for sea to illustrate [i:] and then other sets with one of the columns blank, e.g.:
[i:]
[i]
[]

sea
sit
?

[si:]
[ ? ],
[s n]

Categorising, matching and sorting exercises can be devised for plural noun forms [z],
[s], [iz] and irregular forms, for the -ed termination of the Past Tense Simple form.
A number of familiarisation activities can be carried out with the whole class. Here are
a few examples;

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13

1)
Bingo. You write 10 15 phonetic symbols on the board, each of which is
numbered. You read out some of the items to the class, and the pupils only jot down the
corresponding numbers. You check at the end that the class has the correct combination of
numbers. This game can be continued in pairs, with the pupils taking it in turns to read out a
selection of items to each other.
2)
Kims game. A number of items are written on the board. The pupils close their
eyes while you rub off one of the spellings. When asked to open their eyes, the pupils try to
remember what was in the space.
3) The letters of the alphabet. Phonetic information can play a useful role in teaching
and learning the letters of the alphabet, if you arrange the letters according to the sounds
their names contain:
[ei]
A
H
J
K

[i:]
B
C
E
G

[e]
[ai]
[u]
[u:]
[a:]
F
I
O
Q
R
L
Y
U
N
W
S
P
X
T
Z
V
(after Abbs and Freebairn, Opening Strategies, Longman, 1982, p. 24)

4) Delayed correction of pronunciation. Phonetic notation may also be exploited

when monitoring pair or group work. Rather than interrupting immediately, you can hand the
pupils slips of paper afterwards. These indicate the correct pronunciation in the form of a
phonetic spelling.
A knowledge of the phonetic alphabet is of great value to the teacher of English. It
provides information and guidance about, as well as access to a potential learning aid. It may
suit some pupils learning styles providing them with the means of solving some of the
difficulties experienced with pronunciation independently.

Teaching strategies for stress, rhythm and intonation

Your pupils need both recognition practice and production practice with stress, rhythm
and intonation, so that these become a part of their overall competence in English. This
practice can be integrated either with the teaching of grammar, or with the teaching of
communication skills, or you may have separate lessons /stages of the lesson on particular
areas.
The easiest way for students to practise stress, rhythm and intonation is by repetition.
Traditional repetition is often boring to do if the focus is not pronunciation. The same drills
can be made interesting and challenging if you ask the pupils to repeat a sentence using a
particular stress and intonation pattern. For this practice to be effective, it is important to:
give a good model of the sentence; saying it at normal speed, making a clear
difference between stressed and unstressed syllables, using natural intonation;
indicate the stress, rhythm and intonation clearly, using gestures;
make sure that the pupils pay attention to stress, rhythm and intonation when they
repeat the sentence.
You can use yourself or taped material as the model. Since emulating the voice range
of English may be difficult for your pupils, you may need to exaggerate your own voice range
in hope that your pupils repeating it will sound about right. After listening comprehension
dialogues, pupils love repeating a selected short extract from the tape.

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Remember to integrate constantly intonation when teaching a new structure, or when

doing imitation, substitution drills or communicative drills. For further practice, take advantage
of semi-controlled dialogues.

Rhythm
Quite often, teachers tend to unconsciously distort the rhythm of English in order to
make themselves understood by their pupils. They tend to speak so slowly that the sentence
stress and rhythm are distorted. When the difference in the duration of stressed and
unstressed syllables is lost, they will sound foreign.
As rhythm is superimposed on the utterance, it may be difficult to concentrate on it
without also paying attention to other aspects (pronunciation of sounds, word stress, pitch
variation, meaning of individual words, the utterance as a whole). In the early stages, you
could concentrate on rhythmic patterns with words that do not produce vowel and consonant
difficulties. Different pitch variations can be presented on the same utterance for better aural
discrimination:
Hes coming tomorrow.
This can be said with a low fall, a high fall, or a rising pitch in the last stressed syllable.
What kinds of sentence are said with a 1) low fall, 2) a high fall,
or 3) a rising pitch in the last stressed syllable, respectively?
1)
2)
3)
As for the syllables, these can be replaced with ti (for the unstressed) and TA (for
the stressed). A sentence can sound:
a) . _ . _ . (ti TA ti TA ti)
b) _ . . . _ (TA ti ti ti TA)
Stressed syllables are louder than the unstressed ones. The slanted line marks pitch
variation. The syllables can also be represented using smaller and bigger dots:
a)

b)
Length, a reliable marker of stress, is a variable that the pupils find easy to control. The
dots and lines give an idea of the difference in length between stressed and unstressed
syllables. This is the feature that differentiates most significantly syllable-timed and stresstimed languages. Stressed syllables in English are about three times longer than unstressed
syllables.
Pupils can be first asked to discriminate aurally the two rhythmic patterns, which you
verbalise with the nonsense syllables ti and TA. A same different drill or a drill identifying
the pattern with (a) or (b) can be used. The pupils then can proceed to imitate the patterns
using ti or TA.
A number of words, phrases and sentences are presented which contain the rhythmic
patterns. Pupils identify the pattern writing (a) or (b), and then repeat a number of words,
phrases and sentences that contain the patterns in question, e.g.:
a)
We started early.
Well have a picnic.
A piece of chocolate.
Hes just a baby.
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b)
Tennis is a game.
Do it after lunch.
Why did you return?
Susan must be there.
15

Can you arrange these phrases and sentences according to

the given patterns (a) and (b)?
Peter was with us.
Another sandwich.
Tell her not to come.
Thirty of them left.
Hes absent minded.
A pound of apples.
This mornings paper.
What about a drink?
I dont believe you.
Its time for supper.
Dont be such a fool.
She couldnt help it.
Write your answers in the columns (a) and (b) below.
a)

b)
.
.
.
.
.
.
..

For Romanian pupils, a good command of English rhythm is imperative. If they

succeed in following closely the rhythmic patterns, an accent in certain features of intonation
will not hinder intelligibility of their speech. Correct production of rhythmic patterns requires a
prior teaching of the recognition of the patterns through adequate ear training. Remember
that a pupil who is unable to perceive a phonetic aspect will also be unable to reproduce it in
the spoken form, and do not neglect to teach aural discrimination of rhythmic patterns.
Intonation
It is sometimes said that the best techniques for teaching intonation are exaggeration
and exhortation. This means that it is always useful to simplify ones teaching of intonation
and to put a lot of encouragement into the models you give the pupils to repeat. It is also
useful to ask them to repeat what you have said or what they heard on the tape, with as
much enthusiasm as they can gather.
Here are a few more techniques:

Recognition and discrimination

a) Rise or fall?. Provide the pupils with cards of two different colours, or ask them to
raise their left or right hands, and say or play a series of short utterances. The pupils must
signal recognition by holding up the appropriate hand or card, e.g. right hand for rise and left
hand for fall.
Dont forget to give your pupils a model of what you intend them to do, before starting.
At higher levels, pupils can hear a continuous dialogue and then describe the
intonation on each line. They can even discuss why it is so.
b) Isolated sentences said in different ways. For such sentences, ask the pupils to
determine context and meaning.
c) Tone of voice. At low levels, pupils can recognise obvious attitudes (e.g. happy,
angry, bored, etc.); at higher levels, pupils can recognise more subtle attitudes (e.g. annoyed,
rude, sarcastic, bossy, etc.)
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 Back chaining
One way to help pupils use natural intonation is to practise saying the sentence in
sections, starting with the end of the sentence and gradually working backwards to the
beginning, e.g., living here / been living here / have you been living here/ How long have you
been living here? This technique is known as back-chaining.
When you think that the pronunciation point has been satisfactorily perceived, and your
pupils can produce an acceptable version, the practice stage follows: consolidating and
establishing the habits of good pronunciation through exercises that provide repetition and
reinforcement.
Intonation and meaning in context
After you set up a situational context, you can sing, hum or whistle some lines of a
dialogue (i.e. intonation only). Ask the pupils to assess the meaning of each line. Then ask
them to repeat the singing, humming or whistling, building a kind of dialogue without words,
and then elicit the possible language of the dialogue. Follow this by practice and acting out.
Semi-controlled production
Pupils respond to cues, such as Try saying Thank you, Pardon, Excuse me or
Really? politely/rudely/impatiently, etc.
Free production
The real test of learning will take place during free oral production. Most errors will go
uncorrected, but gross errors will have to be fixed. Encourage peer correction.
The teaching of intonation should be integrated into the teaching of structures and
functional language, and given equal importance. Teach intonation through situation, and
spotlight attitude besides grammar and discourse. Use taped materials, especially dialogues,
as often as you can, for both receptive and productive practice. Dont forget that attitude is
best suggested by either attitude cards or by your own facial expressions.
Use hand gestures to show stress and intonation. Use intonation as a way of
disguising revision of structure.

Correcting pronunciation
On the whole, you give feedback on oral work through speech, and on written work
through writing. Although there are occasional situations where the other way round is
possible, these are exceptions.
It is recommended to refrain from correcting mistakes during fluency-oriented speech,
and to correct only during accuracy-oriented exercises. Correcting a pupil when this is in midspeech would disturb and discourage more than help. But there are situations when
correction is likely to be helpful. When the pupil is obviously uneasy or floundering, no
correction or help can be demoralising. In such situations, supportive intervention can help.
Conversely, even where the emphasis is on getting the language right, you may not
always correct: in a grammar exercise, if the pupil has contributed an interesting or personal
piece of information that does not use the target form, or when s/he has got most of an item
right, you may prefer not to draw attention to a relatively trivial mistake.

Techniques of oral correction

Oral corrections are usually provided directly by you. They may also be elicited from
the pupil who made the mistake in the first place, or by another member of the class.
Corrections may or may not include a clarification of why the mistake was made, and may or
may not require a re-production of the acceptable form by the pupil. Here are several
techniques used in correcting oral mistakes, in general. They can be used in correcting
pronunciation, too:
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17


You do not react at all.

You indicate there is a mistake, but do not provide any further information about
what is wrong.

You say what is wrong and provide a model of the acceptable version.
Can you add any other techniques to this list?

Tips for correcting pronunciation

You can correct pronunciation by writing the phonetic form on the blackboard; this
is a more learner-centred approach than if you correct pronunciation orally, by giving a
model.
The pupils may also be able to write the phonetic notation on the board for
correction purposes (some pupils respond with enthusiasm to this type of activity).
A special area of the blackboard can be set aside for pronunciation work.
Exercises on the blackboard are not rubbed off until the end of the lesson.
A different colour chalk can be reserved for this end.

Summary
Although pronunciation is not always taught in an overt, explicit way, many pupils
seem to acquire an acceptable pronunciation in school. However, this should not make us
forget the benefits of teaching pronunciation in our lessons. The teaching of pronunciation
makes the pupils aware of different sounds and sound features and this will improve both
their speaking and their listening skills. Concentrating on pronunciation makes pupils aware
of sounds, stress, rhythm and intonation, and of various accents. All these give pupils
information about spoken English and help them achieve better comprehension of the
spoken language and intelligibility in speaking.

Further Reading
Bradford, Barbara, 1988, Intonation in Context CUP
Harmer, Jeremy. 2001, The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman, Chapter 2,
pp. 28 33
Haycraft, Brita, 1975, The Teaching of Pronunciation, Longman
Herbert, Julie PracTESOL: ts Not What You Say, but How You Say It! in Richards, Jack C.
and Renandya Willy A., 2002.
Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: CUP.
Jones Rodney H. Beyond Listen and Repeat: Pronunciation Teaching Materials and
Theories of Second Language Acquisition in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A.,
2002.

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18

Catedra de Limba si Literatura engleza

EFL Methodology

LINGUISTIC AND COMMUNICATIVE MEANING,

AND THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR
As with other aspects of language teaching, the importance given to the teaching of
grammar depends on the teaching / learning circumstances and the purpose of the course.
Over the years, the importance of teaching grammar has also depended on the changing
approaches and methods teachers used.
Krashen (1982) argues that formal instruction in grammar does not contribute to the
development of acquired knowledge (knowledge needed to participate in authentic
communication). Prabhu (1987) shows that classroom learners can acquire grammar
naturalistically by participating in meaning focused-tasks. Ellis (2002) argues that grammar
teaching does aid foreign language acquisition, and that formal grammar teaching has a
delayed rather than instant effect.
After a period in which the explicit teaching of grammar was avoided, the current
view appears to be that some grammar is necessary. Although the emphasis is still on
language as communication, it is recognised that a certain amount of grammatical
knowledge helps many learners to build a basis for further progress. Grammar allows them
to find patterns in language which act as guidelines. Therefore, the issue now centres on
questions such as Which grammar items do learners need most? How do we go about
teaching grammar items in the most effective way? Are they best taught inductively or
deductively?
In this unit we will explore communicative and linguistic meaning, and the teaching
of grammar. By the end of the unit you will be able to:

explain why an utterance means what it means

say how meaning can be categorized
explain how you can make the learning of grammar manageable for your
learners
set up, apply and monitor a variety of interactive classroom tasks for
developing grammar
offer a theoretical justification for each of these tasks
assess the learning outcomes of classroom grammar activities.

Key concepts: intelligibility, factors that interfere with communication,

communicative
meaning,
linguistic
meaning,
communicative
competence,
conventionalised functional exponent, inductive and deductive strategies, consciousnessraising, concept questions, horizontal extensions, correction techniques

Communication, meaning and interference

We use language to mean something with it. When a speaker says something, s/he
intends the hearer to understand her/him. When the hearer hears the utterance, s/he sets
about interpreting it, and the continuation of the process constitutes a conversation / a
communication event / a speech event.

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intended meaning
is it expressed adequately?
interpreted meaning
is it interpreted correctly?
When the intended meaning is not interpreted correctly or when it is not expressed
adequately we say that there is interference. If two speakers misunderstand each other,
they tend to rectify the situation by a so-called repair sequence, e.g.:
A: No, hang on a minute. Im talking about this week, not next week.
B: Oh, I see. That'll be fine then.
If, however, the communication interference occurs between speakers of different
languages, the reasons for this interference may be diverse, and of a different nature.
English native speakers can usually tolerate a high degree of inaccuracy of sounds
and grammar. This is because many inaccurate sounds or structures, when surrounded by
accurate sounds or structures, are intelligible, as they can be inferred from context. The
crucial criterion of successful communication in English is then intelligibility. Intelligibility
in communication depends on a few criteria:

the subtlety or complexity of the message that the speaker wants to put across
the extent to which the listener understands the speakers language difficulties
both in production and in reception
the tolerance of the listener to the speaker and/or the speakers culture and
language.

Interference can affect both native speakers and foreigners, both their production
and their interpretation of the message. This is not to say, however, that every such
conversation is loaded with miscommunication. The criteria outlined above apply only to
specific instances. These aspects of (mis)communication raise a number of theoretical
questions, of which the most important is What does effective communication depend
on?
This question has practical implications for us: we need to think of what level of
subtlety or sophistication our pupils need to achieve in their mastery of English. Depending
on our answer to this, we need to make decisions concerning our teaching. On the one
hand, we need to provide our pupils with a range of language which is wide enough to
enable them to express what they want to say, with a degree of accuracy appropriate to
their needs. Also, we need to prepare them to listen with understanding to native English
speech in a range of topics and registers appropriate to their needs. Bear in mind,
however, that the level of accuracy a pupil needs to achieve will be different from that of
another. Similarly, the levels of receptive skill and awareness of socio-cultural conventions
will also differ from one pupil to another.

Linguistic and communicative meaning

Compare these two fragments:
1. Hed be a fool if he refused.
2. A: I look like being offered a front-desk job at the bank.
B: Yes, and youd be a fool if you refused.
Which grammatical structure is common to 1 and 2?
What variations of meaning can you detect in each of its uses?
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The grammatical structure common to 1 and 2 is the second conditional. Its

meaning can be analysed in the following ways:
(1) is a sentence without context. The use of the second conditional here denotes a
hypothetical and improbable refusal which is related to an unavoidable consequence, that
of being considered a fool.
In (2), the second conditional is contextualised in a communicative exchange. The
utterance in which it appears has two layers of meaning: one literal and one actual. The
literal meaning is that, given the improbable refusal, the inevitable consequence is to be a
fool. In other words, the literal meaning is as for (1). The actual meaning depends on the
context, and takes on another dimension of meaning communicative meaning. The
communicative meaning of Bs utterance in (2) is I advise you strongly to take the job.
Contextualised utterances, then, have two types of meaning: linguistic / intrinsic
meaning and communicative / contextual meaning. Linguistic/intrinsic meaning relates
to the essential meaning of each of the structures and lexis which make up the utterance,
as if that utterance were decontextualised. Communicative contextual / meaning relates to
the message intended by the speaker and understood by the hearer. This meaning is
sometimes called function.
Why does an utterance mean what it means? Because when it is produced, the
speaker combines a series of linguistic meanings (i.e. structure and lexis) with factors in
the context. The final outcome is the communicative meaning of the utterance, in other
words, its function. Here are two examples of this process of combination:
Example 1
Forms: Yes, but

youre

leaving

in May!

Linguistic meanings:
Yes: filler
but: conjunction, indicating contradiction or contrast
you: pronoun, referring to addressee
re leaving: present continuous, showing future arranged action
in May: preposition + N (specific month)
Note: Stress and intonation indicate referring back to known information.
Context:
Setting: at home, a couple is discussing
Addressee: partner
Previous conversation: the couple has been discussing a visit to one partners
parents
Previous utterance: Well, how about May?
Communicative meaning/function: Reminding in a slightly exasperated way.
Implication: Stop pretending youve forgotten youre going away.
Example 2
Forms: Yes, but

youre

leaving

in May!

Linguistic meanings: same as above.

Note: Stress and intonation indicate introduction of new information.
Context:
Setting: landlord talking to tenant
Addressee: tenant
Previous conversation: the landlord has been trying to effect the departure of a
badly behaved tenant
Previous utterance: You said I could have a few more days to sort out my affairs.

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In one short sentence, explain what is the communicative

meaning/function of the statement Yes, but youre leaving in
May! in example (2) above.

The implications of such examples and the description of the way language and
context come together to make communication possible are sometimes complex. For us,
one very basic implication is that grammatical structures (e.g. tenses, modals,
comparatives, etc.) have a central role to play in the communicative process.
We realise that the complexity of the matter is even greater when we remember
that there is no one-to-one relationship between form and communicative function. Any
grammatical structure or form can be used to express almost any function, given a
particular context and appropriate accompanying vocabulary and intonation. Remember,
however, that there is a fairly sound and reliable relationship between a form and its
linguistic meaning, though there may be several possible linguistic meanings for one form
(e.g. the present simple tense, the modal verb may, the word head, etc.). Because this
relationship is more-or-less invariable or systematic, the speakers can assume that they
share linguistic meanings, and can therefore use these forms in combination with external
factors, to create specified messages.
Linguistic meaning
Linguistic meaning
categories such as:

falls into categories or notions. Notions include grammatical

pastness
presentness
futurity
duration
time relations
possibility

mass and unit

purpose
result
number
motion
direction, etc.

and lexical categories such as:

descriptive adjectives and nouns activity verbs
nouns of place
state verbs
qualitative adjectives and verbs
verbs of process
adverbs of manner
verbs of motion, etc.
As such lists are actually endless, it is important to realise that they are only
attempts to categorise a language notionally. They are arbitrary and have been compiled
through a combination of intuition, common sense and rational discussion. Such attempts
cannot present the final answer to the question How should the meanings of English be
categorised?
Although notions are one way of categorizing language, they have not become
widely used in ELT in the way that functions have. Very few textbooks have been
produced based purely on notional categories, many textbooks are functional-notional.
Linguists are in (some) more agreement on the concepts (i.e. linguistic meanings)
of the lexical items and the grammatical structures of English. These are of central
importance because they are what the learners use to generalise from. For instance, the
past tense has the following generalisable form and concept/meaning:
Form: verb + -ed (regular)
Meaning: activity/process/state at point of time or over period of time in the past.

Note: The -ed form also has other separate concepts, each of which is
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generalisable in its own way, e.g. its use with I wish...

Communicative meaning
Look at the following utterances, all of which are possible responses to the
statement by A:
B1: I couldnt agree more.
B2: Yeah.
B3: Bloody weather.
A: Looks like weve had it. B4: Have you got an umbrella?
B5: What times the next bus back?
B6: Hmmm.
B7: Oh, you are such a pessimist!
What can we conclude? The meaning of an utterance in context depends on that
context.
Communicative meaning is arrived at by adding the linguistic meaning of the
components to the contextual factors, a process which native speakers can do in an
instant. Native speakers would immediately know that the responses of B (1 6) are
carrying the message I agree, even though each one is different. They would also know
that:
the style/register is appropriate in each context
the attitude is appropriate
the speaker is referring to something in the physical situation that both
interlocutors know about (i.e. grey clouds on the horizon).
In other words, native speakers have communicative competence. By
communicative competence, we mean here, a cultural familiarity with all the aspects
above. This competence enables the speakers to understand and produce utterances
which will be understood across a wide variety of communicative situations.
Conventionalised functional exponents
It is said that there are over 10,000 functions in Standard English. However, it is still
not clear what exactly a communicative function includes: does one utterance constitute a
function, or can several utterances together constitute a function? Here are eight ways of
expressing apology:
Please accept my humble apologies, sir.
Sorry.
Oh, I am sorry are you alright?
I do apologise.
Oh dear, what an idiot I am.
My apologies.
My fault entirely.
Pardon me.
Now its your turn to think of several ways of expressing a
function. Think of as many ways as you can of expressing surprise,
and write them in the space below:

Most functions can be expressed in a variety of ways, depending on the context,

the personality of the speaker, the mood of the speaker, etc. The syllabus and the
textbooks, which aim to furnish the learner with some immediate functional ability, have to
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select from among this variety. They select those functions that are the most useful to
pupils, together with certain ways of expressing those functions. Such ways of expressing
functions need to be commonly used and commonly recognised. They are termed
conventionalised functional exponents or conventional exponents because they are
considered to be the most generalisable exponents for their particular function.
Conventional exponents are a language teaching device and they provide the basis
of most functional textbooks. They can equip pupils with structural patterns which have
communicative meaning and which can therefore be used immediately.
Certain functions appear to be related to certain linguistic patterns, not rigidly but
commonly enough to be regular. For instance:
Would you like a + NOUN = offer
Would you like to + VERB PHRASE = invitation
Dyou fancy + VERB + -ING = invitation (informal)
Excuse me ... please = polite attention getting formula
Conventional exponents represent a shortcut for both the learner and the teacher.
We can teach them as conventions, together with their communicative meaning (not their
linguistic meaning!), and with information as to their contextual/social appropriacy and the
attitude expressed. Some of these conventional exponents often bear little relationship to
the original linguistic meaning of the components. For instance, would you like a... is not
really a second conditional improbable future.

Teaching meaning
Grammatical structures and lexical items have notional meaning, and functional
exponents have functional meaning. The former provide the learners with immediate
communicative tools.
What other aspects of language have meanings? What else,
besides language, can contribute to the meaning of a message?

The teaching of an item of language grammatical structure or lexical item needs

focussing on it in a variety of contexts. If we offer our pupils the opportunity of experiencing
language items only in isolated contexts, the danger is that they only see language as a
series of separate components. So we need to be aware of what is called the global
dimension of meaning, meanings in combination - in other words, spoken and written
discourse.
What is the meaning of discourse made up of? What
elements can you mention? Your answer should not exceed 50
words.

The comprehension and expression of meaning in discourse are skills which have
to be practised above and beyond the learning of discrete items of language.
Traditionally, EFL teachers insisted on grammatical structures. Now we also deal
with functional structures, that is, conventional exponents. On the whole, we need to
emphasise grammatical meaning for the former type (e.g. tenses, modal verbs,
prepositions, comparative and superlative forms, etc.), and communicative meaning for the
latter type, e.g.:
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Im awfully sorry
but + statement
you could always + inf.

= apology
= explanation
= suggestion, after initial suggestion is rejected

The problem, however, arises when a particular grammatical structure lends itself
to several distinct functions. For instance:
Example
Form: The First Conditional: if + clause, subject + will + verb
Linguistic meaning/concept: the condition is assumed as neither likely nor
unlikely to happen 50/50 possibility: If you do that again, If she gets in early
Function (i.e. communicative meaning):
threat: If you touch that again Ill kill you.
warning: If you touch that youll burn your hand.
conditional promise: I'll come if I can get the time off work.
bargain: I'll do the washing up if you do the lawn, etc.
The question is if in cases like this we should think of linguistic or communicative
meaning (i.e. concept or function) first. The common answer to this question is that we
should give our pupils an idea of the concept relatively early, and then teach the functional
uses. An alternative strategy is to use the functional contexts as a basis for revision and
practice of the structure as the pupils rise through the levels.
Some language constructions are more useful if they are taught from the basis of
linguistic meaning (e.g. tenses, countables/ uncountables, etc.), because their meanings
are not easily affected or determined by context: even when used in context, they retain
their grammatical meaning. Other constructions are better taught as fixed expressions
from the basis of communicative meaning, e.g. functional expressions such as: how about
+ -ing (suggestion/ advice); would you mind if + past tense (asking permission). This is
because they can then act as immediately usable tools of communication.
What kind of meaning (linguistic or communicative) would you
teach for each of the following items? Circle L for linguistic
meaning or C for communicative meaning:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)

past perfect
lets + infinitive
too + adj. + to
you dont happen to, do you?
if I were you Id...
if I had more spare time, Id...
will versus going to
Ill give you a lift
I want versus Id like
hardly + inverted past perfect (e.g. hardly had
he got up when

L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L

C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C

A whole range of techniques for teaching meaning can be used. The choice of
techniques used will depend on factors like the nature of the language item, the level of
the pupils, their age and interests, the amount of time available, and so on. Your choice of
classroom techniques will depend on the assessment of your priorities.
1. Start by asking yourself what kind of item you are teaching: is it structural or
lexical? If you are dealing with a structure, then what kind of meaning do you need to
teach linguistic or communicative (concept or function)? What style does the structure
belong to formal, informal, or neutral?
2. Once you have decided what to say, guide your pupils to a focus on meaning; do
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not just leave them to work everything out on their own.

3. When possible, teach your pupils to make guesses about the meanings of
structure, using the context of a listening or reading text as an aid.
4. Do not expect immediate assimilation. Organise revision, recycling, variety of
context, practice in making choices, etc.
5. Remember that the way English divides up and classifies reality (i.e. actions,
things, ideas, relationships between things, etc.) is not the same as in Romanian. Your
pupils may have conceptual difficulties to capture the English semantics.

Teaching grammar
Attitudes to grammar vary considerably. Michael Swan states (2002: 149) that there
are seven bad reasons for teaching grammar and two good ones:
1. Grammar looks tidy and relatively teachable. It can be presented as a limited
series of tidy things which students can learn, apply in exercises, and tick off
one by one. Learning grammar is a lot simpler than learning a language.
2. Grammar is testable. Grammar tests are relatively simple, so grammar is often
used as a testing short cut. So we can easily end up teaching what can be
tested (mostly grammar), and testing what we have taught (mostly grammar).
3. Grammar is a security blanket. Grammar rules give students the illusory feeling
that they can understand and control what is going on, as structural competence
is only a portion of communicative competence, this can lead teachers and
learners concentrate on grammar to the detriment of other aspects of language.
4. Grammar made me who I am. Many teachers spent a good deal of time when
younger learning grammar and they feel these things matter a good deal and
must be incorporated in their own teaching. The tendency of an earlier
generation to overvalue grammar can be perpetuated.
5. You have to teach the whole system. People often regard grammar as a single
interconnected system (like a car engine!). It is more realistic to regard grammar
as an accumulation of different elements/subsystems. Depending on their native
language, the students may already know something about the various
subsystems.
6. Power. Some teachers enjoy the power of knowing more than the students.
Grammar is the area where this mechanism operates most successfully, as
grammar involves rules, and rules determine correct behaviour.
7. The results. Where grammar is given too much priority the result is that the
learners know the main rules, can pass tests, and may have the illusion that
they know the language well. However, when it comes to language in practice.
They discover that they lack vocabulary and fluency. Moreover, such an
approach is psychologically counterproductive in that it tends to make students
nervous of making mistakes, undermining their confidence and destroying their
motivation.
The two good reasons are that:
8. Comprehensibility. Knowing how to build and use certain structures makes it
possible to communicate common types of meaning successfully. Without these
structures it is impossible to make comprehensible sentences. Although it is
difficult to measure the functional load of a given linguistic item independent of
context, such structures will obviously include basic verb forms, interrogative
and negative structures, the use of the main tenses, modal auxiliaries, a.s.o.
9. Acceptability. In some contexts, deviance from native-speaker norms can hinder
integration and excite prejudice (a person who speaks badly may not be taken
seriously or may be considered uneducated or stupid). That is why students may
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need or want a higher level of grammatical correctness than is required for

comprehensibility. Potential employers and examiners may also require a high
level of grammatical correctness.
The question then is, when a pupil is learning to communicate in a foreign language,
to what extent should grammar be made explicit? As a teacher, you may have to work with
a textbook that your school uses, and you will need to assess:

whether the textbook explicitly refers to grammar or not

whether you agree with this or not
the extent to which you need to supplement it with your own grammar
presentations and practice.

Modern linguistics most often addresses the largest unit of language discourse or
text. However, there are smaller units than discourse: the sentence, the clause, the
phrase, the word and the morpheme. We may also want to analyse the component parts
of the sentence: the subject, verb, object, complement, and adverbial. Different parts of the
sentence may be realized by various kinds of words or phrases, called parts of speech:
nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, determiners and prepositions.
A specific instance of grammar is usually called a grammar structure. Such
structures are the present simple of verbs, the genitive of nouns, the comparison of
adjectives or adverbs, etc. Such structures can cause problems to our learners as they
may look different in Romanian, or they may be absent altogether (e.g. the present perfect,
the progressive aspect, etc.). The meanings of the structures that do not exist in Romanian
are notoriously difficult to teach.
The terms grammatical and ungrammatical can be applied to either sentences or
clauses, or smaller units, such as phrases or morphemes. Thus a sentence like *The pupil
readed well is ungrammatical, and a phrase like *the boy tall is also ungrammatical.
Even morphemes can contribute to the grammaticality or ungrammaticality of a certain
form, such as the suffix ed attached to the verb go. However, for classroom use, the most
convenient unit of analysis is the sentence. (Notice that a sentence may have two or more
clauses; however, by a sentence we usually mean a set of words that include a verb,
stand on their own as a sense unit, and conclude by a full stop or an equivalent question
mark or exclamation mark).

How much grammar?

Before reading this section, note down a few essentials of
grammar that you think your pupils need.

What is the grammar that we need to teach? The answer to this question will
depend on our circumstances and our learners aims and level. Helped by the syllabuses
and the textbooks, you will need to decide how much grammar your particular pupils
require. Quite often the question of how much grammar to teach is determined by the
syllabus and the textbook, which specify clearly which grammatical structures the pupils
are expected to learn. Normally, the structures to be dealt with are listed at the beginning
of the textbook.
Although pupils need to be more concerned with how language works than with
learning about grammar, it is nevertheless useful for them to be familiar with the names of
the parts of speech. Some knowledge of terminology will help them with dictionary work,
save explanation time, and facilitate discussion in the classroom.
An awareness of word order should also be a priority. Our pupils should know that
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English is a Subject Verb Object (SVO) language. That is, in the normal, unmarked
sentences, the subject is at or near the beginning of the sentence, with the verb and any
objects following. Secondary school pupils should be able to recognise the subject, verb,
and object(s) of a sentence when they see them, as well as any adverbials a sentence
contains, and to know what their functions are. Also, they should know something about
verb forms; this means knowledge of the various patterns of regular and some of the more
common irregular verbs, the s third person singular and different tense forms. At a higher
level, pupils should be able to explore the more subtle distinctions expressed by the modal
verbs, etc.

Grammar teaching: between practice and consciousness-raising

Rod Ellis (2002) pleads that consciousness-raising activities are even more
important than practice activities. The former involve an attempt to equip the learner with
an understanding of a specific grammatical feature to develop declarative rather than
procedural knowledge. The characteristics of consciousness-raising activities are the
following:

There is an attempt to isolate a specific linguistic feature for focused attention.

The learners are provided with data which illustrate the targeted feature and
they may also be supplied with an explicit rule describing the feature.
The learners are expected to utilise intellectual effort to understand the
targeted feature.
Misunderstanding or incomplete understanding of the grammatical structure by
the learners leads to clarification in the form of further data and description or
explanation.
Learners may be required (although this is not obligatory) to articulate the rule
describing the grammatical structure.

In other words, the main purpose of consciousness-raising activities is to develop

explicit knowledge of grammar. This does not necessarily involve metalingual
knowledge as grammar can be explained and understood in everyday language. It may
be, however, that access to some metalanguage will facilitate the development of explicit
knowledge. The main difference between consciousness-raising and practice activities is
that the former do not involve the learner in repeated production. They are considered as a
potential facilitator for the acquisition of linguistic competence and has nothing directly to
do with the use of that competence. Whereas practice is primarily behavioural,
consciousness-raising is essentially concept-forming in orientation.
The two types of grammar work are not mutually exclusive, however. Grammar
teaching can involve a combination of practice and consciousness-raising. Many
methodologists recommend that practice be preceded by a presentation stage, to ensure
that learners have a clear idea about what the targeted structure consists of. This
presentation stage may involve an inductive or deductive treatment of the structure. Even
if the practice work is directed at the implicit learning of the structure and no formal
explanation is provided, learners (particularly, adults) are likely to try to construct some
kind of explicit representation of the rule.
Whereas practice work cannot take place without some degree of consciousnessraising, the obverse is not the case; consciousness-raising can occur without practice. It is
possible to teach grammar in the sense of helping learners to understand and explain
grammatical phenomena without having them engage in activities that require repeated
production of the structured concerned.
What teachers do when they teach grammar is to help learners internalise the
structures taught is such a way that they can be used in everyday communication. To this
end, the learners are provided with opportunities to practise the structures, first under
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10

controlled conditions, and then under more normal communicative conditions. (Ur (1988:
7) describes the practice stage of a grammar lesson in these terms: The practice stage
consists of a series of exercises ... whose aim is to cause the learners to absorb the
structure thoroughly, or to put it another way, to transfer what they know from short-term to
long-term memory.
It is common to distinguish a number of different types of practice activities
mechanical practice, contextualised practice, and communicative practice. Mechanical
practice consists of various types of rigidly controlled activities, such as substitution
exercises. Contextualised practice is still controlled, but involves an attempt to
encourage learners to relate form to meaning by showing how structures are used in reallife situations. Communicative practice entails various kinds of gap activities which
require the learners to engage in authentic communication while at the same time keeping
an eye, as it were, on the structures that are being manipulated in the process0 (Ur, 1988:
9).
Irrespective of whether the practice is controlled, contextualised, or
communicative, it will have the following characteristics;

There is some attempt to isolate a specific grammatical feature for focused

attention.
The learners are required to produce sentences containing the targeted feature.
The learners will be provided with opportunities for repetition of the targeted
feature.
There is an expectancy that the learners will perform the grammatical feature
correctly (accuracy-oriented practice).
The learners receive feedback on whether their performance of the grammatical
structure is correct or not. This feedback may be immediate or delayed.

Presenting grammar
The advent of communicative teaching saw the demise of grammar-based
instruction. Grammatical syllabuses were superseded by communicative ones based on
functions or tasks. Grammar-based methodologies such as the Presentation Practice
Production (P-P-P) lesson format gave way to function and skill-based teaching.
Accuracy activities such as drills and grammar practice were replaced by fluency activities
based on interactive small-group work. This led to a fluency-first pedagogy (Brumfit,
1979) in which students grammar needs are determined on the basis of their performance
on fluency tasks rather than predetermined by a grammatical syllabus. This puts the onus
of presenting grammar almost exclusively on the teachers shoulders. This means that it is
important for you to be able not only to know how English works but also to be capable of
passing this knowledge on to the pupils. Moreover, you should be able to explain to a
class how grammatical structures work in actual communication. It is less important for
your pupils to know the name of a particular structure than it is to know how and when the
structure is used.
It is not easy to present and explain grammar structures. First, you need to
understand yourself what is involved in the knowledge of the respective structure (form
and meaning), and what kind of difficulties it may create for your pupils. Then, you need to
select examples and explanations that will make it clear and accessible to the pupils. The
proper balance must be found between simplicity of presentation and accuracy, as what is
simplified may lose in accuracy.
There are basically two ways of dealing with grammar. The traditional way is
deductive: the pupils are given rules to study and then they try to apply them. This view is
to be found in the structural syllabuses and textbooks. Here the structures are sequenced
according to their complexity.
The other way is inductive: you select the functions your pupils may need to
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11

express in English and then ask them to look for their grammatical exponents. However, it
is very difficult to select and sequence functions, as the needs of the learners cannot be
predicted with accuracy. And yet, the learning goals expressed in functional terms are
more motivating for learners as they can see immediately the usefulness of such language
as that use in asking for directions or accepting invitations.
Do the English textbooks in use teach grammar inductively or
deductively?

Frequent short periods of formal grammar teaching are probably more successful
than infrequent long periods. Five or six minutes dealing with a single point is enough, as
long as you recycle the same point over a number of times until your pupils are
comfortable with it.
Ways of presenting grammar in the classroom range from formal explanation to
grammar games. None of these techniques should be despised until you have tried them
and found suitable or unsuitable for your classes. You will choose techniques which suit
your own teaching style and your pupils learning styles. However, there are voices (CelceMurcia and Hills, 1988: 27-28) that claim that any grammar lesson should consist of four
parts: presentation, focused practice, communicative practice and teacher feedback and
correction.

Presentation
In the presentation stage you introduce the new grammatical structure. You should
decide whether this is o be done deductively (by formal presentation and study of a rule),
or inductively (by offering examples of use from which the rule can be worked out).

Focused practice
In this stage, you give the pupils practice in manipulating the specific structure with
no other distractions, such as the need to communicate.

Communicative practice
In this stage, the pupils put a new structure to use in a variety of communicative
activities. The tasks that you select for this stage should incorporate information gaps, in
which one participant has information that the other does not. The speaker must have a
choice of what to say and how to say it. Finally, there should be feedback from the partner
or listener. This will affect what the speaker says, and thus prevent a rehearsed
conversation.

Teacher feedback and correction

You should give feedback throughout the lesson, to ensure that the new structure is
being used properly. However, during communicative practice, it is important that the flow
of communication should not be interrupted, as at this stage the pupils should concentrate
on meaning. Errors should be noted and dealt with later.
These four stages of a grammar lesson are compatible with most teaching styles.
No matter how you conduct a lesson, and whatever your beliefs about language learning
and teaching are, you need to present the new material to the class in some form or
another, the pupils must have opportunities to get control of the structure and use it, and
you need to monitor the whole process, if it is to be effective.
All these activities have the purpose of increasing the pupils grammatical
awareness, and your task is to find ways of stimulating this.
Formal presentations on the board are sometimes the most simple and effective.
For example, to check your pupils awareness of the functions of sentence components,
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12

write a short sentence on the board, such as We watched a film last night, and ask
simple questions to check understanding, such as Who did what? When? Your pupils
need to know enough to slot vocabulary items into the appropriate places in the sentence.
Coloured chalk, boxed or circled words, small capitals and other graphic markers are
useful for showing the word order changes on the board. For example, to show how the
statement She has done her job is turned into a question form, you can highlight the
word has, which draw attention to it when it moves to the front of the sentence:
She has done her job.
Has she done her job?
Penny Ur (1996: 82) advises that after preparing a grammar presentation, you need
to go through it again, asking yourself questions like:

Do I present the structure in both speech and writing?

Do I present both form ad meaning?
Do I provide enough examples?
Do the examples have enough meaningful context?
Do I use the name of the structure? What other terminology do I use?
Could you add any question to those suggested above?

From grammar-focused to task-focused instruction

The belief that a precise focus on a particular form leads to learning and
automatization no longer carries credibility, and the underlying theory for P-P-P has been
discredited. Nunan (1989: 10) offers the definition of the fluency-based pedagogy involved
in task work:
The communicative task [is] a piece of classroom work which involves
learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target
language while their attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form.
The task should also have a sense of completeness, being able to stand alone as a
communicative act in its own right.
The belief that successful language learning depends on immersing students in
tasks that require them to negotiate meaning and engage in naturalistic and meaningful
communication is at the heart of much current thinking about language teaching and has
lead to a proliferation of teaching materials built around this concept, such as discussionbased materials, communication games, simulations, role-plays and other group and pairwork activities.
The differences between traditional grammar-focused activities and communicative
task work can be summarised as follows (Richards, 154, f.)
Grammar-focused activities
reflect typical classroom use of language
focus on the formation of correct examples of language
produce language for display (as evidence of learning)
call on explicit knowledge
elicit a careful (monitored) speech style
reflect controlled performance
practise language out of context
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13

practise small samples of language

do not require authentic communication

Task-focused activities

reflect natural language use

call on implicit knowledge
elicit vernacular speech style
reflect automatic performance
require the use of improvising paraphrasing, repair and reorganisation
produce language that is not always predictable
allows students to select the language they use
require real communication

Task work is not intended to promote development of a non-standard form of

English but is seen as part of a process by which linguistic and communicative
competence is developed. Tasks are necessary, but may be preceded and/or followed by
focused instruction which is contingent on task performance (Skehan, 1996).
Tips for reinforcing grammar understanding during pre-task activities
Pre-task activities have two goals: (1) to provide language support that can be
used in completing a task; (2) to clarify the nature of the task so that students can give less
attention to procedural aspects of the task and hence monitor the linguistic accuracy of
their performance while carrying out the task. In other words, pre-task activities aim to
teach, or mobilise, or make salient language which will be relevant to task performance.
This can be accomplished in the following ways:
(1) Pre-teaching certain linguistic forms that can be used while completing a task
(2) Reducing the cognitive complexity of the task (e.g. watching a video, listening
to a cassette of learners doing a similar task, doing a simplified task, dialogue
work prior to carrying out the task, etc).
(3) Giving time to plan the task.
Here are a few practical examples:
a. Concept questions
Example 1: past perfect
I realised Id lost my money.
Linguistic meaning: the perfect aspect is very similar in past, present or future
timescales. The style is neutral. Here the past perfect means evident then, but it can also
show unfinished past beyond past, as in She had studied for 3 years before entering the
architecture school, or an indefinite time beyond past, e.g. When I got in the film had
started.
Situation: Careless Mrs. B going on holiday.
Elicited examples: (of evident then concept):
When she arrived she
discovered (that) she had forgotten his camera
realised had broken her wine bottle
found had left her passport at the airport
saw had brought the wrong suitcase
Concept questions (and expected answers):
Did she discover these things before she arrived? No.
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14

Did she discover these things after she arrived? Yes.

When? Just after.
In time, which came first discover or forget? Forget.
If I say, When she arrived she discovered she broke her wine bottle, is that right?
Why not? Because discovered and broke happened at different times.
Do we know when she broke her wine bottle? Does it matter? No.
Time line
?
(time not important)
broke wine bottle

X
discovered
realised
found
saw

NOW

Note that these questions refer to the particular situation devised for presentation,
and that they are generalised questions which get to the essence of the linguistic meaning
of the structure.
Example 2: Would you mind if I + past simple
Would you mind if I opened the window?
Functional meaning: asking permission. Style: formal.
Situation: Man in a train compartment, sitting opposite to a stranger lady.
Elicited examples:
Man: Would you mind if I
opened the window?
smoked?
put my feet on the seat?, etc.
Lady: No, not at all.
Be my guest, etc.
Concept questions (and expected answers):
Do they know each other? No.
Do we often use this kind of language between friends? Not really.
Is the lady going to open the window? No, the man is...
So whats he doing? Hes asking for ? Permission.
Note that these questions refer to the social relationship as well as to the intended
meaning of the utterances.
Concept questions need to account for function, style and register, as well as
grammatical meaning.
Now try your hand at devising concept questions for Jane
used to eat meat. Analyse and state the meaning first. Try to
make your definitions simple and clear enough for your pupils to
understand. Then write your concept questions and the answers
you would expect from the pupils.
b. Horizontal extensions
You can introduce conjunctions such as but or because to elicit an extension of a
sentence. The extension should reinforce the meaning, i.e. discontinued past habit in this
case:
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15

He used to live in a big house but now he doesnt.

Teachers often use such extensions as a way of checking understanding. Having
illustrated the meaning of an item (or asked the pupils to look it up) you can begin a
sentence and then provide an appropriate linker/conjunction to prompt learners into
finishing the sentence meaningfully, e.g.:
T: He neednt have watered the garden because...
S: because it rained this morning.
One point to consider here is the level of language. You have to make sure that the
conjunction selected is not more difficult than the target item (e.g. but versus even though).
Now add a conjunction which can lead to a horizontal
extension that reinforces the concept of I managed to..., and give
an example of what you would expect pupils to say to complete
such a sentence. Include a brief note on the concept involved,
using simple language.
c. Mini-situations
These can come from the teacher as a reinforcement of a presentation, or they can
be elicited from pupils as a check of their understanding. They should be carefully worked
into it as part of a systematic build-up of meaning and anticipated at the planning stage.
You give a situation and elicit an example like this:
have got to + infinitive (obligation)
(i) Im going to Predeal on holiday tomorrow. My train leaves at seven oclock in the
morning. So?
(ii) My mothers birthday is next week, so? ...
Or you can elicit an offer in this way:
ll + infinitive (offer)
(i) My friend needs to buy a shirt. Hes only got 2. Ive got some money, so what
do I say to him? ...
(ii) Your friend arrives at the local station and telephones you at home. You have a
car. What do you say to him? ...
Alternatively, you can elicit situation with questions like:
a. Tell me a situation when you could use used to
b. When can I say Im going to buy a new car and not Ill buy a new car?
d. Contrasts
To contrast come and go, for instance, you can write on the blackboard sentences
like:
*Are you going to my party?
*When he comes back to his country, hell find a new job.
Then you ask your pupils to find mistakes and discuss the meaning of come and
go. You then provide more examples of deliberate mistakes for pupils to correct.
Grammar structures can also be contrasted, such as present perfect and past
simple. You can make use of a time-line for present perfect and another time-line for past
simple. To illustrate the contrast, you can then divide the board, heading at top of each
side:
(i) Shakespeare
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(ii) a Romanian writer whos still alive

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This will lead to sentences containing wrote/did/was, etc. versus has written/has
done/has been, etc.

Types of grammar practice activities

Grammar practice activities are meant to facilitate the pupils learning of structures
so that they may become able to produce these structures correctly in free speech or
writing. If the pupils still make mistakes in free production, it means that the structures are
not yet thoroughly mastered, and the pupils still depend on conscious monitoring in order
to produce them correctly. Our job is to help them pass from form-focused accuracy
activities to fluent intelligible production by providing a variety of practice activities that help
them get familiar with the structures in context, by giving them practice both in form and
communicative meaning.
Penny Ur (1996: 83) suggests a sequence of grammar practice activities,
ranging from more controlled to freer procedures, from form-focused to meaning-focused
activities, from accuracy to fluency practice.
a. Awareness-raising activities
After the structure has been presented, the pupils are given opportunities to
encounter it in discourse, and do a task that focuses their attention on the structure form
and/or meaning.
For simple recognition purposes you may want to ask your pupils to highlight
examples of particular structures in handout texts.
b. Controlled drills
The pupils are asked to produce examples of a structure, following models given by
the teacher or found in the textbook.
Example
Listen to Mick. Then look at the picture. What jobs had Mick done at 12:55 last
Tuesday afternoon? What jobs had he still to do? Ask and answer.
1 A: Had he cleaned the window?
B: No, he hadnt.
2 A: Had he made the bed?
B: Yes, he had.
1. clean the window
2. make the bed
3. wash the dishes
4. tidy the desk

5. vacuum the carpet

6. mend the chair
7. pick up the newspaper from the floor
8. put the books onto the shelves

Now make sentences about what Mick had or hadnt done at 12:55 last Tuesday
afternoon.
1 He hadnt cleaned the window.
2 He hadnt made the bed.
(from Granger C. and Beaumont D., Generation 2000 Students Book, Heinemann, p. 81)

c. Meaningful drills
Still following a model, the pupils can make a limited choice of vocabulary.
Example
Think about a place you know which has a lot of problems. What are the problems?
What improvements would you recommend? Make true sentences. There are some ideas
in the box to help you.

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Examples
There are too many cars.
There should be a pedestrian zone.
There is too much pollution.
There isnt enough entertainment.
There is only one good disco.
There isnt anywhere to meet friends after school.
bottle bank
cinema
disco
litter bin
pollution
pedestrian zone
sports centre
traffic

car
club
entertainment
noise
pedestrian crossing
public transport
street lighting
tree

car park
cycle lane
graffiti
park
rubbish
shop
swimming pool

(from Granger C. and Beaumont D., 1993, Generation 2000: Students Book, Heinemann, p. 41)

d. Guided meaningful practice

The pupils are asked to form sentences of their own according to a given pattern,
but without being given the vocabulary to use.
Example
Talk about:
any coincidences that have happened in your past.
Anything you regret.
If I hadnt Id never have
I wish I had/hadnt
(from Abbs B. and Freebairn, I., 2001, Snapshot: Intermediate, Students Book, Longman, p. 102)

e. (Structure-based) free sentence composition

The activity provides a visual or a situational cue, and the pupils are asked to
compose their own responses; they are directed to use a certain structure.
Example
Talk about these questions.
Do you have a festival or a carnival in your city? If so, what time of year is it? Is it
ever dangerous? What advice would you give to visitors?
Always/Never/Dont.
You should/shouldnt.
(from Abbs B., Freebairn I., Barker C., 2000, Snapshot: Elementary, Students Book, Longman, p.
96)

f. (Structure-based) discourse composition

You ask the pupils to hold a discussion or write a passage according to a given
task. They are instructed to use at least some examples of the structure within the
discourse.
Example
Listen and read.
1. Expressing regrets about the past:
I wish wed taken some warmer clothes.
If only I hadnt lost my scarf.
2. Making helpful suggestions:
Why dont you find somewhere to keep warm?
Maybe you could phone them.
Perhaps you should sit down.
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In pairs, make conversations in the following situations.

1 you didnt have any breakfast this morning and now you feel faint.
2 You bought a cheap CD player and now its gone wrong.
3 You were lazy when you were young and never learnt to play an instrument. You
regret it now.
4 You have just had an argument with your best friend and now you feel bad about
it.
(from Abbs B. and Freebairn, I., 2001, Snapshot: Intermediate, Students Book, Longman, p. 99)

g. Free discourse
The pupils are given no specific direction to use a certain structure. However, the
task situation demands the use of a certain structure.
Example
Discuss. If someone from India came to live in your country, what things might they
find unusual or difficult to get used to?
(from Abbs B. and Freebairn, I., 2001, Snapshot: Intermediate, Students Book, Longman, p. 89)

However, recent studies have questioned the effectiveness of practice. According

to Pienemann, a structure cannot be successfully taught (in the sense that it will be used
correctly and spontaneously in communication) unless the learner is developmentally
ready to acquire it. In other words, the teaching syllabus has to match the learners
developmental syllabus. It does not follow that practice is without any value. Practice does
help where structure pronunciation is concerned; it may be quite effective in helping
learners to remember formulaic chunks (e.g. How do you do? Can I have a ?) It needs
to be recognised, however, that practice will often not lead to immediate procedural
knowledge of grammatical rules, irrespective of its quantity and quality (Ellis, 170).
There are empirical and theoretical grounds which lead us to doubt the efficacy of
practice, which is essentially a pedagogical construct. It assumes that the acquisition of
grammatical structures involves a gradual automatisation of production, from controlled to
automatic, and it ignores the very real constraints that exist on the ability of the teacher to
influence what goes on inside the learners head.

Less formal grammar practice activities

Less formal, ways of presenting grammar are also possible. Grammatical
awareness can be stimulated by games such as the simple odd one out tasks, in which
four or five items are listed and the pupils are asked to suggest which one is unlike the
rest, and why. If this activity is carried out in groups, lots of valuable discussion may take
place as the pupils consider a number of options. Here are some examples of increasing
levels of difficulty:
kick, go, walk, look
go, come, should, sell
read, go, come sell
as, while, but, although

go is an irregular verb
should is a modal verb
read doesnt change its form in the Past Tense
but is a coordinating conjunction

You may also ask your pupils to design their own tasks based on this or other
patterns. This will not only increase motivation but will also cause them to reflect more
deeply on the various possibilities. Another group task might be to explore how many
words may be removed from a sentence one at a time without making the sentence
ungrammatical. Start by creating a sentence with lots of adjectives and adverbs, which can
be removed easily, then move to longer verb phrases.
A variation on this activity is to make a competition of it. Start with a short sentence
and ask the pupils in two groups to take turns in trying to increase it one word at a time
while still producing acceptable utterances. For example, start from Time flies:
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Time flies.
Time flies quickly.
Time flies quickly usually.
Time flies very quickly usually.
Spare time flies very quickly usually, etc.
Grammar games help to provide an element of competition and enjoyment, and
puzzles can often focus attention on subtle aspects of grammar and usage. One simple
idea is to give your pupils a pair of sentences with minimal structural differences and ask
them to say what the difference in meaning is. Decisions reached by different groups can
later be discussed and grammatical justifications can be offered; all of these develop
grammatical awareness. Here is such an example:
I dont think of her much. (Shes not in my thoughts)
I dont think much of her. (I dont like her)
Another source of reflection is ambiguity. Provide your pupils with an ambiguous
sentence and ask them to suggest two meanings and a possible explanation for the
ambiguity, e.g.:
Can he swim? (Is he capable? / Is he allowed to?)
Sometimes it is difficult to say whether the problem is one of vocabulary or
grammar. For example:
Remember me? (Do you recognize me?)
Remember me to your wife. (Give my regards to your wife)

Personalising grammar activities

It is not unusual for teachers to forget that pupils are people before they are pupils.
They have interests, knowledge, emotions, opinions, anxieties, joys and sorrows,
ambitions, and skills. Some have even jobs, families, problems, etc. All of these may be
much more involving than the English classes. When you create a classroom atmosphere
in which your pupils are encouraged to use English (and to share!) what they want to say
about all these aspects of their own lives, there is a strong likelihood that the language
they are learning will have much more relevance for them. Allowing for the expression of
personal meaning is the main principle behind the idea of teaching for the whole person
(also known as holistic or humanistic teaching).
When language items are introduced and practised, when comprehension texts are
being exploited, when creative role-play and written work is being set up, and when
discussions are being organised, pupils are pleased to be given the chance to talk about
themselves, or to display their knowledge and opinions.
The advantages of personalisation should not be underestimated. The language
that the pupils use is centred on them personally rather than on the activities or tasks that
the teacher has set them to perform. This underpins motivation, by demonstrating how
language can be relevant to the personal meanings that a pupil wants to express. It also
promotes depth of assimilation and retention (Stevick, 1976: 33-36) and it can help to
develop a positive attitude towards English and the Anglo-Saxon culture.
In terms of classroom activity, the following ideas are just a few examples of how
personally meaningful language practice can be introduced into lessons:
a) Presentation of grammatical structures
3rd conditional: elicit the pupils own stories or have them tell about near miss
accidents.
have got: elicit descriptions of the pupils descriptions family, home, friends, etc.
past perfect: elicit pupils recent place/person revisited experiences and have
them talk about the changes they noticed.
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 past continuous and past simple: ask the pupils to tell anecdotes of frightening
experiences, etc.
b) During preparation for listening or reading texts
ask what the pupils know about the subject in advance and pool information
ask if any pupils have experience of anything related to the topic, etc.
c) During freer speaking activities
organise role-plays in which pupils play themselves.
organise discussions in which pupils express their own opinions.
organise simulations of conversations in various places.
Any topic or situation which has personal value to an individual pupil or which
allows him/her to express their individuality will provide the sort of language practice that
leads to deeper assimilation of that language. And deeper assimilation leads to better
retention and easier recall.

Consciousness-raising activities
We have seen that the goal of practice activities is to develop automatic control of
grammatical structures that will enable learners to use them productively and
spontaneously. This may not be achievable if we assume that we can teach grammar for
use in communication. If instead, we aim to develop the learners awareness of what is
correct but without any expectancy that we can bring them to the point where they can use
this knowledge in normal communication, then the main objections raised against
grammar practice disappear.
Practice is directed at the acquisition of implicit knowledge of a grammatical
structure tacit knowledge needed to use the structure effortlessly for communication.
Consciousness-raising is directed at the formation of explicit knowledge - intellectual
knowledge which we are able to gather about any subject. The construction of explicit
representation of grammatical structures is of limited use in itself when it comes to
communicating. Although consciousness-raising does not contribute directly to the
acquisition of implicit knowledge, it does so indirectly. It facilitates the acquisition of the
grammatical knowledge needed for communication. Moreover, it is crucial for future
teachers of English who will have to explain to themselves and their pupils various
structures.
The acquisition of implicit knowledge involves three processes:
1. Noticing: the learner becomes conscious of the presence of a linguistic feature
in the input, whereas previously s/he had ignored it;
2. Comparing: the learner compares the linguistic feature noticed in the input with
his/her mental grammar, registering to what extent there is a gap between the
input and his/her grammar;
3. Integrating: the learner integrates a representation of the new linguistic feature
into his/her mental grammar.
Noticing and comparing involve conscious attention to language; integrating takes
place at a very deep level, of which the learner is generally not aware.
Consciousness-raising contributes to the acquisition of implicit knowledge in two
major ways (Ellis, 171):
1. It contributes to the process of noticing and comparing and prepares the
grounds for the integration of the new linguistic material. However, it will not
bring about integration. This process is controlled by the learner and will take
place only when the learner is developmentally ready.
2. It results in explicit knowledge. Thus, even if the learner is unable to integrate
the new feature as implicit knowledge, s/he can construct an alternative explicit
representation which can be stored separately and subsequently accessed
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when the learner is developmentally ready to handle it. Furthermore, explicit

knowledge serves to help the learner to continue to notice the feature in the
input, thereby facilitating its subsequent acquisition.
Consciousness-raising is then unlikely to result in immediate acquisition. More
likely, it will have a delayed effect.
Another reason for teaching grammar as consciousness-raising is that grammar
fosters intellectual development; grammar embodies a corpus of knowledge the study of
which can be expected to contribute to students cognitive skills.
An example of consciousness-raising task
Consciousness-raising tasks can be inductive or deductive. The following table
provides an example of an inductive task designed to raise the learners awareness about
the grammatical differences between for and since. The task involves minimal production
on the part of the learners. However, there is an opportunity to apply the rule in the
construction of personalised statements. Such tasks can make use of situational
information, diagrams, charts, tables, and so on. They can also be used in lockstep
teaching.
1. Here is some information about when three people joined the company they now
work for and how long they have been working there.
Name
Date joined
Length of time
Ms R
1945
45 years
Mr B
1970
20 yrs
Ms T
1989
9 mths
Mr Ba
1990 (Feb)
10 days
2. Study these sentences about these people. When is for used and when is since
used?
a. Ms R has been working for her company for most of her life.
b. Mr B has been working for his company since 1970.
c. Ms T has been working for her company for 9 months.
d. Mr Ba has been working for his company since February.
3. Which of the following sentences are ungrammatical? Why?
a. Ms R has been working for her company for 1945.
b. Mr B has been working for his company for 20 years.
c. Ms T has been working for her company since 1989.
d. Mr Ba has been working for his company since 10 days.
4. Try and make up a rule to explain when for and since are used.
5. Make up one sentence about when you started to learn English and one
sentence about how long you have been studying English. Use for and since.
Consciousness-raising constitutes an approach to grammar teaching which is
compatible with current thinking about how learners acquire L2 grammar. It accords with
progressive views about education as a process of discovery through problem-solving
tasks. However, consciousness-raising may not be appropriate for young learners and it is
definitely not an alternative to communicative activities, but a supplement.

Correction of grammar mistakes

Before you read the next paragraphs, note down a few
techniques that you are familiar with used in dealing with grammar
mistakes.

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In general, we should handle incorrectness with tact and consideration. Showing

incorrectness and correction should be seen as positive acts and a useful part of the
learning process. During the grammar practice activities, when we need to insist on the
accurate reproduction of structures, there are two basic correction stages: showing
incorrectness (when you indicate to the pupil that something is wrong) and using
correction techniques.
Showing incorrectness
You indicate to the pupil that s/he has made a mistake. If the pupil understands this
feedback, s/he will be able to correct the mistake. Thus self-correction becomes part of the
learning process.
You can use a number of techniques for showing incorrectness:
Repeating
You ask the pupil to repeat what s/he has just said by using the word again,
said with a questioning intonation. This indicates that the answer was
unsatisfactory.
Echoing
You can repeat what the pupil has just said, with questioning intonation. This
indicates that the accuracy or content of what is being said is questioned. You can
either echo the complete student response, stressing the part of the utterance that
was incorrect or only part of the response, up to the point where the mistake was
made. Echoing is probably the most efficient way of showing incorrectness.
Denying
You can tell the pupil that the response was unsatisfactory and ask for it to be
repeated. This technique may be a bit more discouraging for the pupil.
Questioning
You can say Is that correct? asking any other pupil in the class to answer the
question. The advantage of this technique is that it focuses the pupils attention on
the problem; the disadvantage is that it may make the pupil who made the mistake
feel exposed.
Using facial expression and/or gestures
You can indicate that an answer was incorrect by your expression or by some
gestures. This can be economical but the danger is that the pupils may think that
the expression is a form of mockery.
Quite often, however, you will find that showing incorrectness is not enough for the
correction of a mistake, and you may have to use some correction techniques.
Using correction techniques
If the pupils are unable to correct themselves you can resort to one of the following
techniques:

Pupil corrects pupil: you can ask if anyone else can give the correct
response. You can ask if anyone can help the pupil who has made the mistake.

Teacher corrects pupil(s): Sometimes you may feel that you should
take charge of correction because the majority of the class are too mixed-up. In
such cases, you may have to explain again the item of language which is causing
the trouble.
The use of correction techniques gives the pupils a chance to know how to get the
new language right. It is important, therefore, that after you have used one of the
techniques, you ask the pupil who originally made the mistake to give a correct response.
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These two stages of correction and the techniques described above are especially
useful for accuracy work, not only in grammar, but for speech in general. Another
possibility, however, for the more creative activities is gentle correction. This involves
showing the student that something is wrong, but not asking for repetition.

Summary
We could say that there are four stages in the assimilation of the meaning of a
grammar item:
1. experiencing the target item in limited context (i.e. isolated from main body of
language)
2. discovering its boundaries of meaning
3. practising/recognising it in different contexts
4. using it to express real communicative intentions.
The meaning of some items can be learnt quickly. Other items take longer to learn.
Their teaching has to be staged over a period of days or even weeks. The teaching of
such items needs to go through several stages too. First, you need to guide your pupils to
the meaning of the item by introducing and illustrating the meaning of the item. Second,
you need to reinforce their understanding by: (a) checking their understanding, (b)
comparing and contrasting the item with potentially interfering items, (c) testing the pupils
ability to discriminate.
The full meaning of a new word or structure, the stylistic constraints on its use and
the diversity of possible separate meanings are impossible to grasp at one and the same
time. Just like in our mother tongue, where we constantly discover new nuances, uses and
collocations for familiar words, in English our pupils will undergo the same process. They
should start with a simplified or generalised account of the meaning of a new item. This
meaning does not take account of diversity, nuance, constraints on usage, etc. Such an
account is, therefore, to some extent, an approximation. In time, they will move on through
further language exposure to a finer and finer appreciation of the exact use of the item.
The reasons for not going into the subtleties of meaning early on are obvious.
Firstly, they would confuse the pupils. Secondly, they are often very difficult to explain. So,
the solution is the subsequent exposure to a great deal of authentic language. Thus the
pupils have the opportunity to recognise structures taught approximately, and through
sensing the nuances and complexities, they can come to a more exact appreciation of the
uses.
It is important to stress that providing an approximation of a meaning is not the
same as providing the bare essentials of a meaning. We need to give our pupils a word or
structure and a meaning that they can generalise from. So, in initial presentations,
information on meaning will probably include situations, communicative meaning and
formality/ informality level for appropriacy for formulae and functional exponents (e.g.
would you like to...). For grammatical structures, the initial presentations should include
linguistic meaning, without subtleties.

Further Reading
Ellis, Rod. 2002. Grammar Teaching Practice or Consciousness-Raising? in Richards,
Jack C. and Renandya Willy A. (eds.) Methodology in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: CUP.
Nunan, D., 1989. Designing tasks for the communicative classroom. Cambridge: CUP.
Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: CUP.

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Swan, M. 2002. Seven Bad Reasons for Teaching Grammar and Two Good Ones in
Richards, Jack C. and Renandya Willy. Methodology in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: CUP.
Ur, Penny. 1988. Grammar Practice Activities, Cambridge University Press, pp. 4-43
Ur, Penny. 1996. A Course in Language Teaching, CUP, pp. 74-85, 90-98

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Catedra de Limba si Literatura engleza

ELT Methodology

ERROR AND CORRECTION

Error is now seen as an inevitable and necessary part of the learning process. In
learning English, our pupils are involved in a creative construction process, in which
they constantly form, test and adjust hypotheses. This process involves them in making
errors, too.
By the end of this unit you will be able to:

explain what is an error;

what are the causes of error;
discuss how and when error should be corrected;
put in practice some practical principles and suggestions for error
correction in the classroom.

1 What Is Error?
Generally speaking, error is a deviation from the norm. By norm we mean a
language system shared by a language community, in our case, English. However, the
answer to the question What is error? will vary with who gives the answer and why. For
instance, one teacher may see error as an important source of data for the study of
internal psychological language processes. Another may see it as a source of
information about the relative success of teaching. To the pupil, error may or may not be
a thing to be avoided, a source of failure and inhibition, or a source of amusement, if not
a fact of life.
Not all errors are all of equal importance, however.

1.1 The Status of Error

Today, errors are rarely seen as failure. That is why you need to coach your
pupils into believing that:

errors are positive as they form an indispensable part of learning;

native speakers of English make errors, too;

very often errors do not interfere with the intended message in the
communicative process (e.g. *Pardon, is possible I can use phone?).

1.2 Some Causes of Error

A few central causes of error could be outlined as follows:

the interference of Romanian (also called negative transfer*);

the interference of English (e.g. overgeneralisation*, as in *He must to be

careful);

the process of learning. For instance, pupils may forget previously learnt
rules and these become again areas of confusion as new rules are introduced
into the system;

the process of teaching. For instance controlled practice activities may put
such pressure on pupils that they make errors of stress, for instance, because
they are concentrating on the structures;

distraction, carelessness, etc.;

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bad teaching.
It is important for a teacher to establish the causes of an error in order to become
more able to deal with it.

1.3 Types of Errors

Classification is an important aspect of error analysis*. You can categorise errors
in several different ways according to your purpose. For instance, you might want to
categorise errors in terms of causes (as above). Or you might prefer to categorise errors
in terms of type and in terms of priority considerations, which will lead you to category
lists such as the following:

Language categories

general language errors

grammar
lexis
style and register
(appropriacy)
discourse-linking
formulaic expressions
functional exponents

errors specific to
spoken language
sounds
stress and rhythm
intonation
paralinguistics*

errors specific to written

language
punctuation
spelling
spacing and layout
coherence

Behavioural categories
These involve culturally specific routines (e.g. how and when to greet people, take your
leave, respond to gratitude, etc.), ways of not causing offence, and ways of behaving in
conversation (e.g. turn-taking, interrupting, etc.).

Priority considerations
These considerations concern whether or not to deal with an error during a given
classroom activity, addressing the question How important is the error? This aspect of
error analysis is often dealt with immediately by the teacher, but it is important for you to
be aware of the dimensions of the issue in order to make those systematically.
Here are some of these priority considerations:

Is the activity controlled or communicative?

Is the error frequent or infrequent?
Is the error global* or local*?
Is it a mistake/slip or a competence error?
Is the error linguistic or behavioural/sociolinguistic?

Applying these considerations, you can isolate different angles from which to
view the importance of your pupils errors. Your decision as to how and when to correct
will be largely a matter of common sense and sensitivity.

1.4 Feedback and Error Correction

One essential feature of the language learning process is feedback. This allows
pupils to know how successful their efforts are. There are two sides to feedback
confirmatory feedback and corrective feedback. Confirmatory feedback tells them when
they are right, and corrective feedback tells them when they are wrong. Both you and
the other pupils in the class are a constant source of both types of feedback during
lessons.

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If we concentrate on corrective feedback, two questions arise: when should we

correct and what should we correct?

1.5 When and What Should We Correct?

These questions are interdependent. In general, we need firstly to be aware of
when it is appropriate to correct, and when it is not appropriate to do so. In more
specific instances, when your pupils produce language errors, you need to assess
whether and what items it is necessary to correct. As a guiding principle, you can adopt
a general corrective or non-corrective stance according to the aim of the activity you
have engaged the pupils in.
You need to adopt a corrective stance during accuracy activities, where the focus
is on the form of the language. On the other hand, you do not need to adopt a corrective
stance during fluency activities, where the focus is on effective communication and the
achievement of a task-based objective.
So, for example, the controlled oral practice of a new grammatical structure may
need correction and attention to accuracy. By contrast, a pupils presentation of a match
that he watched the night before will be followed by the correction of the global errors
which impeded the communication of the message.
As far as correction of specific errors is concerned, remember that you need to
be selective. In other words, you need to choose which types of error you are going to
focus on in any particular activity.
SAQ 1
What would happen if you did not apply the principle of selectivity
to specific errors in accuracy activities?

In an accuracy activity, correction emphasis may be on word form, syntax or

rhythm. In another activity, the emphasis may be on correct production of sounds or
intonation.
In a semi-controlled activity (where there may be revision and practice of a wider range
of language items), correction emphasis may be on general rhythm and intonation, on
lexis, and on other errors which are frequent among the learners.
In a fluency activity, where you are taking a generally non-corrective stance, the only
interventions will be in cases where your pupils are unable to make themselves
understood. In other words, these corrections will focus on global errors.
You can take note of errors which occur in group or class work, focusing on
general areas of weakness, and then feed these back to the pupils afterwards for
comment and correction.
Always bear in mind the priority considerations. Is the error a careless slip or an
as-yet-unlearnt rule? Is it a word or a structure that has recently been taught and is
therefore in the process of being assimilated? Is it a frequent error or an infrequent one?
Is the activity controlled or free?

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2 How Should We Correct Errors?

Whether during written work or oral work, correction can be carried out by:

the teacher;
the pupil her-/himself;
another pupil;
the whole class (through discussion).

The most desirable correctors are the pupils her-/himself and another pupil. But
you will often need to do the correction yourself as consolidation, as pupils often do not
trust each other to be able to provide the best solution. The whole class is asked to do
the correction when a common problem seems to be worth making into a class
problem-solving activity.
In controlled oral work one possible procedure is to:

stop the pupil who is speaking and make sure s/he knows there is a
mistake (e.g. "Is that right?");
give the pupil a chance to reconsider;
if this does not help, isolate the error (e.g. by counting off the previous
words with fingers and highlighting position of error in the pupils
utterance), or
say "Grammar?, Pronunciation?, Stress?, Is that the right word?", etc.;
if this is still no good, ask the class "Can anybody help?" and encourage
intensive listening of pupils;
if this does not work either, tell the pupils what the correct form is and
get the pupils to practise the correct version.

SAQ 2
In no more than 50 words, explain whether you would use a
similar error correction procedure for oral fluency work.

When dealing with errors in written work, essentially the same principles apply:

accuracy activities vs.

important errors
vs.

fluency activities
less important errors

Many of the writing activities that you set are probably controlled or guided
exercises, because these are easy to mark, and your pupils make fewer errors.
However, when you set fluency-based writing (i.e. communicative writing), it is important
to be selective about the types of error you want to focus on.
Perhaps one of the best ways to correct written work is to make the pupils work it out for
themselves. This means that you need to isolate the error (by underlining) and
categorise it (by a code in the margin). Here is an example of such a code:

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Gr = grammar
WO = word order
WW = wrong word
SP = spelling
?? = word omitted
P = punctuation

T = tense
St = style
? = I don't understand
L = linking not logical
NP = new paragraph
etc.

Do not forget that your pupils may also enjoy helping each other with the
correction of their work!
When a group of errors becomes common in the class, it is time for remedial
work*. One of the best ways of dealing with remedial work is to write 10 wrong
sentences on the blackboard and the pupils (in pairs or groups) have to find the errors.

3 Errors and Mistakes

An error is a deviation from the norm. This definition includes the performance
of mistakes. So what is the difference between a mistake and an error?
A mistake can also be called a slip of the tongue. The speaker/writer knows
perfectly well what s/he wants to say but the message just does not come out right. This
is often true of time-pressurised speaking, but also of writing at speed or under
pressure. Often our thoughts run ahead of our speaking or writing and we may leave
words out. Or, when we are tired, we tend to drop sounds or letters or to switch the
sounds or letters around in words.
Your pupils are vulnerable to the same kind of pressures. If you take this into
account, you can avoid hyper-correction*.

3.1 Error or Mistake?

How do you know if your pupils are making a mistake or an error?
A possible answer is that slips of the tongue produce a different kind of deviation
from the norm from those resulting from a lack of knowledge of the system.
Another answer is that you base your decision on whether the pupil usually uses this
word or item with facility or not.
Moreover, people often realise immediately when they make slips of the tongue
and correct themselves immediately.

3.2 Categories of Mistakes

Linguists have looked into slips of the tongue in some detail. Here are some of
the categories they found:

reversals or spoonerisms: e.g. *Im catching the town drain (instead of

down train)
blends: e.g. *"The road was very slickery" (slick + slippery).
substitutions: e.g. "Give me a black coffee I mean white", even
sometimes grammatical substitutions e.g. "I had my photo took" (from I
had my photo taken + Someone took my photo). Such substitutions are
common for native speakers and language learners alike.

3.3 Production and Reception Mistakes

We have considered so far only production mistakes, that is, the kind of mistakes
made by the speaker or writer when producing sentences or utterances. But mistakes
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can also be made by listeners or readers; these are called reception mistakes.
Reception mistakes are less easy to detect but they are usually due to:

mumbled or badly written input;

the listener/reader has a different interpretation;
the listener/reader has made wrong assumptions about the content or
topic;
the title, the topic or a word causes misunderstanding;
lack of attention (which may cause putting together wrong bits of
information);
bad hearing or eyesight or distraction;
blends and substitutions that occur in listening/reading.

These factors are true for native speakers and foreign pupils alike.

4 Errors and the Language Learning Process

Another factor which will influence the way you correct errors and the kind of
feedback you give, is the stage that the pupils have arrived at in learning a particular
language item. You need to take account of the extent of knowledge they have, and of
when and how they use it. It may therefore be helpful to look at what Pit Corder
suggests are three stages in error making: pre-systematic, systematic and postsystematic. At the pre-systematic stage, errors are due to the ignorance of the rule; at
the systematic stage, they are due to the use of a wrong rule, and at the postsystematic stage, they are due to lapses in the use of correct rule.

4.1 Pre-systematic Stage Errors

In this stage, the pupils are not aware of a certain rule, or they are confused
about the rule. They will either transfer a rule from Romanian, or use their limited
knowledge of English. For instance, beginners without knowledge of simple past tense
may say:
*Yesterday I go early in the school.
Beginners with no knowledge of question-form inversion may say:
*You can write it?
Such errors tend to be random guesses with no system. During the same class,
a pupil who is not sure how to mark the 3rd person may produce: *"I gets up early" or
*"Hes gets up" just to see which is right.
SAQ 3
Could you think of the instances when pupils tend to make such
errors? Write your explanation (no more than 30 words) in the
space provided below.

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4.2 Systematic Stage Errors

In this stage, pupils are still constantly making errors but each of the errors has a
definite pattern. A pupil may have discovered and transferred a rule (not the rule), s/he
is applying it consistently, and s/he cannot correct this alone. This means that pupils are
consistently wrong, unlike in the pre-systemic stage where by chance they could come
upon the right form.
The important difference is that in this systematic stage, the pupils can give a
reason for using the language item in the way they have used it. Therefore, you can
give the pupils feedback focused on the particular problem.
This is also the stage when pupils may ask you or each other questions about
rules to check hypotheses, e.g. Is the question Did you went or Did you go? or The
negative of must is mustnt?
Your response is to correct, explain, re-present, re-situationalise. Pupils rarely
remain in this stage with a particular language item for long. Systematic errors occur as
a natural part of the learning of a new item, and show you what to do for remedial work
or for further practice activities.

4.3 Post-systematic Stage Errors

In this stage, the pupils have internalised the correct rule; however, the use of the
respective rule is not yet automatic, and errors occur in less controlled activities. So
practice, but not remedial work, is still needed.
When you point out the error, the pupils can correct it immediately. You can
correct this kind of error by simply drawing attention to the fact that there is an error, by
a look; by a shake of the head; by saying stress or grammar or question, or by
underlining the written form.
Post-systematic errors tend to occur in freer activities. They will appear as the
pupils move on to learn new items, shifting their focus on to new rules and
concentrating less on the old. Post-systematic errors are practically the same thing as
mistakes. However, mistakes are more widespread than post-systematic errors in that
they occur randomly and with language that may have been learnt long ago.
These three stages refer to individual language items at any level of proficiency.
In a sense, learning is a process by which the new becomes the familiar, which in turn is
disrupted by the new again. The best you can do is to be sympathetic to your pupils
feelings in these different stages of error-making, and bear in mind that they need a
space between the learning of one major item and the learning of the next.

5 Error Analysis
Error analysis is a process which has four steps:

identifying the error;

reconstructing;
classifying;
explaining possible causes of the error.

5.1 Identifying an Error

Identifying errors is not always an easy task. For instance, it is always easier to
identify production than reception errors. Reception errors may often go unnoticed as
we often remain ignorant of pupils reception errors until these errors reach the

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production stage. That is why error analysis research has limited itself to analysing
production errors.
SAQ 4
Look at the following errors. Some are easier to identify than
others. Why is it so? Explain your reasons in the space
provided below.
a. *I have saw him recently.

.......
......
b. *Ive seen him yesterday.

....................................................................................................
......
c. *I took the jacket back it didnt suit me.

d. *I dont want to go to Spain this year. I prefer going to Italy.

..
e. *I clean my teeth twice a week.

..
f. *There are cinemas from 10 p.m. until 2 a.m.

..
There are two kinds of errors: overt and covert. Overt errors are easily
recognisable as the sentence where they appear provides enough context. Covert
errors are the more difficult to recognise as they require greater sensitivity to the wider
context and to what the pupil is trying to say. Examples (a), (b) and (f) in SAQ 4 contain
overt errors. Examples (c), (d) and (e) are covert errors. Such covert errors may either
pass by altogether or are realised as errors because we have some extralinguistic
knowledge about the pupil who is speaking or the situation s/he is referring to. Covert
errors involve the wider context of the discourse.
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5.2 Reconstructing an Error

Reconstruction means deciding what the pupil really wanted to say, and involves
interpretation. It is almost simultaneous with identification, as in the act of identifying we
almost always replace the error with what we think the pupil wanted to say.
SAQ 5
Have another look at the examples in SAQ 4. What did you
replace the erroneous sentences with?
a.

*I have saw him recently.

.
b.

*Ive seen him yesterday.

..
c.

*I took the jacket back it didnt suit me.

d. *I dont want to go to Spain this year. I prefer going to Italy.

d.
e.

.
*I clean my teeth twice a week.

f.

*There are cinemas from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m.

To reconstruct covert errors you have to look behind the immediate context. In
order to correct covert errors you may have to ask the pupil if s/he meant what s/he said
or not, and if not, what s/he wanted to say. Questioning may also be needed when a
combination of errors occurs in one utterance.
Moreover, overt errors can very often conceal covert errors. In reconstructing an
overt error such as *I clean rarely my teeth or *I want speak to you, the impulse to
correct the word-order in *rarely my teeth may obscure the fact that it doesnt really
make sense. In *I want speak you you might insert the to but not notice the stylistic
error. So, whether you are marking written work or listening to pupils oral work, you
shouldnt miss important covert errors in your attempts to correct the overt ones.

5.3 Classifying Errors

Classifying or describing errors refers to putting an error into one of the
categories. This happens almost simultaneously with the first two processes. Assigning
errors to categories is dependent on what you think the pupil is aiming at or what a
native speaker would say, and on your reconstruction of the correct version.

5.4 Explaining Errors

This is the most speculative part of the process of error analysis. Once an error is
identified, reconstructed and categorised, you are in a position to consider its possible
cause(s). Broadly speaking, errors will be either interlingual*, and stem from negative
transfers from Romanian or another language the pupil speaks, or intralingual*, and
stem from negative transfer within English.
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Interlingual errors
Inter-lingual errors are comparatively few in number compared to intra-lingual
errors. This suggests that the traditional contrastive analysis is useful to explain only
those errors that are caused by the interference of Romanian. As a teacher of English,
you are already familiar with the areas of interference between Romanian and English.

Intralingual errors
Many errors are common to pupils with different native languages. However, the
pupils in a certain group do not necessarily make the same errors. So error analysts
looked at the errors made within the context of English and of the students learning
experience. They attempted to work out what influences could cause error apart from
the learners mother tongue. Below are some of the most common causes of intralingual errors:

Overgeneralisation
An overgeneralisation error appears when the pupil has learnt a rule (e.g. ed
marks the past tense) and s/he overextends the rule to exceptions. Hence *comed,
*goed, *maked or *"I must to buy this book", etc. Native English children also do this
when acquiring English.

Early learning
The language pupils learn first has to cover a multitude of functions and they must
make do with the little language that they know. For instance, the present simple may
serve as past: *"Yesterday I come to school by bus". The errors produced in such
circumstances could be called communicative, and they are gradually removed as the
pupils learn more English.

Errors deriving from the nature of teaching

What is practised most in class or is needed most for classroom communication is
used most, even when inappropriate. For instance, very often a question like "Whats he
doing?" may get an answer like: *"Hes doing reading a book".
Such errors are often linked to the verbal prompts used by the teacher or by written
prompts used in written exercises (as in the example above). They show the need for
more careful teaching and more practice.

Teacher-induced errors
Some mistakes may be caused by overloading, which may lead to mixing or
confusing, or even erasing. Also, the teachers failure to highlight the relevant details of
a rule, may determine the pupils production commission of errors. For instance a
question like *"Is she gone out?" may be caused by the teachers failure to show that
shes gone out stands for she has gone out in the affirmative.

Cross-association
Pupils may confuse two different uses of similar forms or concepts as in:
*Its mine book.
*The book was very interested.
*He asked me to borrow my car to him.
Any of the above-mentioned causes could contribute to such errors. Whatever the
cause though, the pupils are not associating the right form to the right concept or
function.

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10


Hypercorrection
The pupils may transfer a correction to areas where it does not apply, and in which
they previously made no errors or different errors, e.g.:
*He always is late.
After the teacher has insisted a lot on structures like He always arrives late or
My fathers car, the overcompensation begins. The pupils may say things like *He
always is late or *The chairs legs.

Distraction
When a pupil is thinking about one aspect of language, he may lose concentration
in another. This is especially true of intonation, as practice of structural accuracy may
lead to flat intonation.

Communication strategies
Communication strategies include simplification, translating, borrowing, guessing,
over-generalising, etc. Each strategy brings with it several types of error. For most
pupils, true communication in English (i.e. fluency) is inaccurate. However, the errors
that occur will be considered significant only if they lead to communication breakdown.
These breakdowns must be noticed and quickly repaired. Here are some examples:
simplification:
borrowing:
guessing:

*I like a tea. (for Id like a tea.)

*He is terrible. (for He is terrific.)
*We can meet together at the the car
station. OK? (*'car station for bus stop)

There is always some speculating in talking of the possible causes of error.

Nevertheless, knowledge of and sensitivity to the causes of error should make you more
vigilant about your teaching, and about the false corrections that pupils often make in
the learning of English.

5.5 Teachers Response to Error

The final link in the chain of error analysis is response to error, that is, what you
can do to rectify errors. You have two main courses of action: correction and remedial
work. Correction is done on the spot or shortly afterwards. Remedial work is a more
thorough and systematic recapitulation of the language which is causing particular
difficulty.

Correction
A difficult problem teachers are confronted with is how to make your pupils notice
and concentrate on your corrections. You can never be sure of your pupils commitment
to correction, because they learn in the way that suits them best. For instance, some
pupils will benefit from homework, if you attach a good deal of importance to it, and give
them corrections and comments in it.
When the pupils are motivated, you may ask them to self-correct using a correction
code. An introduction to self-correction is to get the pupils correcting each others work
after it has been coded by you and handed back.

Remedial action
The systematic diagnosis of language weaknesses can pay dividends. When
diagnosing areas of weakness, especially from written work, it is important to end up
with:

a list of all errors made

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11


a list of the common errors made by both individuals and the class as a
whole. The errors in the list can be categorised: errors with articles, punctuation, modal
auxiliaries, etc. Such a list can help you devise a step-by-step approach to remedial
work.

5.6 Correction or Reformulation?

It is interesting to note that parents seldom correct their young childrens
pronunciation or grammar in their mother tongue. Parental correction tends to
concentrate on conventions of politeness (e.g. Say please) or on correcting the truth
value of an utterance (e.g. Thats not a chair, is it? Its a stool). The childs grammatical
system develops with little parental attention. It seems that parents do two things:

They reformulate what the child tries to say, and in so doing, they confirm that they
have understood. In reformulation, no attention is drawn to an error.

They extend what the child is talking about, thereby providing relevant and
comprehensible new input.
SAQ 6
What are the implications of these two parental strategies for
classroom teaching? What questions do they raise?

In the classrooms where exposure to English is intensive and frequent, pupils

could accept the idea that a lot of fluency work will benefit them. In such circumstances,
such an approach to correction would be valid. But, in general, most pupils would only
accept such an approach as part of a particular freer-style activity, or at higher levels of
study where some fluency has already been attained.

Summary
To conclude, you need to be aware of various types of mistakes: slips, lapses,
and errors and be able to say in which category or subcategory of errors they belong. In
addition, you need to identify the causes of errors and say if they originate in Romanian
or in English.
Your responses to error will depend on the medium: in speech, you will have to opt for
either correction or reformulation, while in writing you will have to decide on a coding
system.

Key Concepts

error
mistake
negative transfer
overgeneralisation
error analysis

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12

identifying error
reconstructing error
classifying error
explaining error
inter-lingual errors

 production and reception

mistakes
pre-systematic stage errors
systematic stage errors
post-systematic stage errors

intra-lingual errors
correction
remedial action/work
reformulation

Further Reading
1.
2.

Norrish, J. Language Learners and their Errors, Macmillan

Swan, M. and Smith, B., 1987, Learner English, Cambridge University Press

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13

Catedra de Limba i Literatura englez

EFL Methodology year II

EVALUATION, ASSESSMENT, TESTING

The terms of evaluation and assessment are often used interchangeably. In
general, by evaluation is meant the systematic gathering of information for purposes of
decision making (Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied
Linguistics,1992). Evaluation uses both quantitative (e.g. tests), qualitative methods
(e.g. observation) and value judgements. The evaluation of learners involves decisions
about entrance to programmes, placement, progress and achievement. According to the
same dictionary, assessment is the measurement of the ability of a person or the
quality or success of a teaching course, etc. Assessemtn may be by test, interview,
questionnaire, observation, etc. Students may be tested at the beginning and again at
the end of a course of study to assess the quality of the teaching on the course.
Testing is often a misunderstood word. When hearing it, many people envisage
formal written tests, done by pupils working on their own to a time limit. In fact, we test
our pupils ability to speak write or read, or their listening comprehension skills every
day throughout the lessons. However, because marking written tests is easier than
marking oral tests, and because written tests take less time and are easier to
administer, most tests are written.
Whenever we check that a pupil is understanding, following, making progress,
assimilating a new word, pronouncing a correct sound, we are testing our pupils. Also,
whenever we informally assess whether our teaching is effective, we are testing our
pupils.
By the end of this unit, you will be able to:

explain the difference between various types of tests

justify the use of tests in your classes
discuss what communicative testing is
devise specific tests for your classes.

Key Concepts: evaluation, assessment, formal and informal testing, progress

tests, diagnostic tests, placement tests, assessing tests, reliability, validity, scorability,
subjective and objective tests, discrete item, integrative and communicative testing,
alternative assessment.

Informal and formal testing

Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of classroom testing: informal and formal.
Informal testing is usually done orally and has a short-term objective within a lesson.
Formal testing is usually done via the written medium, and tends to have more longterm objectives. Formal testing divides into three categories.
1. placement testing, i.e. finding out what level the pupil has reached in
comparison with an objective scale of competence, in order to put him/her in a suitable
class;
2. diagnostic testing, i.e. finding out what the pupil needs;
3. progress/achievement testing, i.e. finding out what the pupil has learnt.

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Placement and diagnostic testing are often carried out in unison when a pupil
first enters a school. Progress tests reflect the work of a lesson (e.g. homework) or the
work covered in a week or a longer period of time.

Informal testing
Informal testing refers to the techniques we use in a lesson to keep a constant
check on our pupils minute-by-minute progress and the effectiveness of our teaching. It
can be done using concept questions to check assimilation of meaning, by eliciting* and
by peer correction*.
Here are a few types of informal tests:
asking concept questions
checking understanding of instructions
eliciting pupils own examples
eliciting pupils explanation of a grammar rule
eliciting pupils definition of a vocabulary item
controlled oral practice (e.g. drills)
elicited/cued*/guided dialogue-building
elicited/cued/guided monologue-building
free stage activities
language games
communication games
comprehension questions
tasks based on listening/reading material
As a result of informal testing, both your pupils and you get an ongoing and
impressionistic idea of their progress.

Formal testing
In formal testing, you give a certain time to a group of pupils to do a test that
was previously prepared, which is then corrected. Formal tests are not necessarily set
by you, the class teacher, and they may not be related specifically to previous
classroom teaching. Apart from their grade or mark, the pupils may never see the tests
again.
Formal tests can be most types of written exercises:
transformation
e.g.: He's a fast runner. He runs...
clause combination
e.g.: She had a cold. She went swimming. (although)
gap-filling
e.g.: The chocolate cake looks so good. It must be very...
multiple-choice
e.g.: Which of the three solutions is closest to the given word: hostage
a) prey b) victim d) captive
sentence-completion, etc.
e.g.: My friend would be all right if....

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What other types of written activities could be used in

formal written testing?

The written work that the pupils produce provides a basis for assessment and
analysis.

Approaches to testing
Traditional types of formal tests may test linguistic competence to some extent,
but they do not test linguistic awareness or communicative competence. Thus, we can
identify three different approaches to testing:
discrete item tests
These test individual grammar rules or vocabulary items (e.g. Jane (go) to
school by bus every day.)
integrative tests
These test a more global linguistic awareness, e.g. cloze tests where every nth
word is deleted from a passage.
communicative tests
These test the pupils communicative effectiveness in each of the four language
skills, and also the socio-cultural awareness of language choice in a range of contexts.
Most teachers believe that their job is a constant process of TESTING (or
TEACHING TESTING AGAIN... and so on. In fact, pupils work off the
feedback they get from their teachers and teachers work from the feedback they get
from their pupils. Thus, teachers can continuously assess individual pupils progress
and the effectiveness of their teaching.
There are four basic issues in testing:

ASSESSING)

the purpose of the test

the criteria for deciding whether the test is good or not
what should be tested
what testing techniques should be used.

What does a test measure?

A test is a measuring device, and a means of comparison. We use a test when
either we want to compare a pupil with other pupils who belong to the same group, or
we may be comparing what the pupil can do now with what s/he has done in a past test.
We may therefore use a test to
a. compare a pupils present performance with his/her past performance. We do
this using a progress / achievement test, based on what has been taught.
b. find out if a pupils language abilities compare with the minimum requirements
for a task (e.g. studying in an intensive English class, which requires a certain level of
English). In such circumstances, we use a proficiency test, based on what the pupil
needs to be able to do with the language to perform a certain task.
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c. find out which of the classes available is best suited to the pupils needs. This
is a placement test and is most often used on entry into a school.
d. find out what a group of pupils specific needs are, what they are good at or
weak on; to see which skill areas need more work, and what kind of work. This is done
using a diagnostic test, based both on what the pupils should know and on what may
still need to be covered. A diagnostic test is similar to a placement test in content but it
may be a more precise instrument. Actually, we may consider that informal diagnostic
testing is going on for some time at the beginning of a course.
e. find out which are the best pupils in a group. This is competitive assessment
via a selection test.
f. find out the language learning abilities of a pupil or group of pupils, to see to
what extent they would benefit from a language course. This is called an aptitude test.
With the exception of aptitude tests, all the tests overlap to a certain extent in
terms of content language and its use. However, each one has a different aim and a
different relationship to teaching. These differences influence the content of a test, the
way in which it is handled and marked, and who writes the test. The three tests that
most concern us are the progress, diagnostic and placement tests.

Progress tests
These are the tests that you administer most often, and which affect your pupils
learning directly and immediately. Their aim is to find out if what you have taught has
been assimilated sufficiently to be used accurately and appropriately, or whether
remedial work is needed. Progress tests are based on what you personally have taught
your pupils, on what the syllabus or the textbook directed you to teach. That is why,
progress tests are, in a sense, retrospective to teaching. They act as a kind of summary
of a number of hours work in class or at home.
Regular progress tests can help you and your pupils to see improvement in
certain areas or skills over a longer period. This is particularly useful with more
advanced pupils where progress is often more difficult to see. Progress tests are also a
good way of indicating to pupils that more effort is required of them if they are to reach a
certain standard.
We should consider the results of progress tests in conjunction with continuous
assessment. As some test results may indicate a bad day for some pupils, you may also
need to consider factors such as: how hard they have worked, how much passive
knowledge they have, whether they like a challenge or not, and perhaps even the group
spirit.
A progress test, administered at the end of a year or at the end of a term, has
the aim of helping you and your pupils to see progress or lack of it. Such tests are
probably best written by someone with an overall view of the different levels and of how
they relate to one another and the syllabus. Many textbooks offer such tests at the end
of the year. However, if the aim of the progress test is to summarise a weeks work or to
draw together the different elements of a unit, you are the best person to write the test.
Such a test needs to be strictly related to what you have taught that class of pupils. The
results of such a test have the advantage of not only telling your pupils and yourself how
much they have learned, but also what needs remedial work in subsequent lessons. If
the test exposes huge gaps in your pupils knowledge, it has the function of a diagnostic
test as well.
However, tests can go wrong, not only because of the pupils lack of knowledge,
but also because of problems in the writing of the tests themselves. When you write
tests, bear in mind these five rules suggested by Harmer (1987, pp. 58 - 59):
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1. Do not test what you have not taught. Unless you are testing reading or
listening comprehension, you only test the language you have exposed your pupils to.
However, if you ask your pupils to write freely, then encourage them to show as much
as they know.
2. Do not test general knowledge. Remember that you test only their English.
3. Do not introduce new techniques in tests. For instance, ask them to do a
sentence-ordering activity, only if they have worked with jumbled sentences before.
4. Do not just test accuracy. A progress test should examine the pupils ability
to use language, not just their grammatical accuracy. Give them the opportunity to
express themselves freely, too.
5. Do not forget to test the test. Show it first to a colleague, who might identify
problems you have not thought of, such as unclear instructions, mistakes, or the
difficulty of the test (too high or too low). If possible, try your test out with a similar class
or a class of a slightly higher level.

Diagnostic tests
While progress tests are based on what you have taught, diagnostic tests are
based on what you think needs to be taught. Diagnostic tests are usually set at the
beginning of a course when you want to know your pupils.
Based on the information provided by a diagnostic test, you will plan your
language work for the class or group. A diagnostic test on the first day will help you to
decide which areas need remedial work, and which ones the pupils have at least some
knowledge of. This information will enable you to select the most necessary language
work and the right approach to input, practice and skills work. This is particularly
important at intermediate level and above, when learning is a process of constant
remedial work in order to help pupils achieve increasing mastery of complex aspects of
language use.
You may even use the same diagnostic test at the end of the course, as a
progress test, so that both you and your pupils see how and where they have improved.

Placement tests
Placement tests are concerned with the general needs of a pupil, and are based
on a general assessment of his/her ability to use English. When testing a pupil for
placement purposes you need to bear in mind an image of the syllabus at all levels, and
a knowledge of what demands are made on pupils at different levels. Based on what the
pupil understands and produces in the light of this criterion, you place him/her up or
down the scale.
Placement tests are important for you, as you have to cope with the results of
placement tests, even though you may not be involved in designing them.

Assessing tests
Four main issues concern us in assessing a test:

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validity
reliability
scorability
administrability

A test has validity when it does what it sets out to do, and does not test other
things unnecessarily (such as memory, intelligence, non-linguistic knowledge,
personality, etc). A valid test uses means of testing appropriate to the aims of the test.
A reliable test will give consistent results. If we administer the test again to the
same pupils or to other pupils at the same level, the test will give the same results. To
give reliable results, the test should be long enough.
A scorable test is quick to score, and not very time-consuming.
An administrable test is easy to administer.

Reliability and validity

It is important for the results of a test to remain the same if the test is marked by
different people, or by the same person at a different time, or if the same pupils did the
test again under the same conditions. Reliable results are also important if you want to
compare one group of pupils with another. Reliability is easier with written tests than
spoken ones.
What can you do in order to make sure that your tests are reliable?
a. Make sure the test is long enough, and if possible test the same things in
more than one way.
b. Pilot your test: try it out on a group and note any problems that emerge when
administering the test.
c. Mark the test twice or give it to somebody else to mark it, to see if both of you
agree with the marking. The more people agree with your marking, the more reliable
your test will be.
Validity emphasises the importance of the pupil's reaction to the test. It is very
important that the test looks like a good one to the pupils; otherwise, they may not feel
like putting in the necessary effort to do it well. This means that we should design tests
that are clearly connected with what we have done in our class, in terms of both test
content and testing technique. Our pupils' previous experience of tests will affect what
they consider to be a valid test or not. Our main aim is to assess their language
knowledge and skills, and this will be difficult to do if the pupils are unsure how to
handle a testing technique, multiple choice, for example. it is, therefore, in everyone's
interest to design tests that do not cause pupils undue stress.
The secret of content validity is to:
a. make sure you are very clear in your mind both what you want to test and
what different testing techniques you demand of the pupils;
b. analyse the results of any test you write to see which test items got the
answers you intended them to get. Then you can consider what happened and modify
the test items for the next time.
A reliable test is not necessarily a valid one and vice versa. For example, if you
want to find out if your pupils can write an essay, then the valid test is to ask them to
write an essay. However, if you have not thought carefully about the degree of guidance
your pupils need to receive in relation to what you expect, and about how you will mark
the test, this can be an unreliable way of testing essay-writing skills.
On the other hand, a test with multiple-choice questions may be a reliable way
to test pupils ability to recognise the correct structural item, but it is not a valid way of
testing the pupils ability to produce these items.

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Below are five examples of test items that have the aim
of testing pupils' ability to produce a simple past question using
How.
Which would you say are valid ways of doing this?
a) Make a question from this sentence:
He went to Brighton by car.
b) Make the question for the answer below:

............................ to Brighton last year?

. I went by car.
c) Make a question about the phrase underlined:
I went to Brighton by car.
d) Make the question for the answer below.
By car.
e) Make this sentence complete: How/go/Brighton?

Scorability and administrability

Administrability refers to how easily a test can be made or done. A number of
technological developments, such as the photocopiers, the audio-recording equipment
and the computers have made testing an easier task for the teachers.
There is a tendency for the more reliable tests to be easier to mark. Where it is
possible to be more objective about the answer, it is easier to mark. For instance, it is
easier to mark multiple-choice questions, because the pupils' answers can be tightly
controlled and anticipated, and there is room for one right answer only. By contrast, in a
letter, for instance, you need to think of the way the pupils have expressed themselves;
you may need to reconstruct errors; you may be uncertain about the importance of an
error, etc. In other words, however much you think about the criteria for marking and
attempt to standardise your marking, the unpredictability of free writing makes marking
much more subjective. Therefore, we have two kinds of testing techniques in terms of
marking: subjective and objective.
Marking tests
Tests that are more reliable are easier to mark and thus it is possible for you to
be more objective about the mark.
Which of the following is easier to mark and why? A
piece of free writing such as a thank you letter or multiple-choice
answers? Write your answer (about 100 words) in the space
provided below.

There are two kinds of testing techniques to choose from in terms of marking:
subjective and objective. These terms do not refer to the writing of the tests, but to the
type of marking they require. Actually, all tests are fundamentally subjective in
construction because they reflect certain attitudes to learning and to what is learnt. Both
subjective and objective techniques have their strengths and weaknesses.

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 Objective tests
These tests are very quick to mark. They are based on predicted answers and
on total control of what the pupil shows s/he can do. The big disadvantage of such tests
is that we cannot find out if the pupils can do anything else.
Subjective tests
These tests are easy to design and administer, but their marking can be a timeconsuming process, involving a lot of decision-making about the quality and
acceptability of the answers. In such tests, the pupils can avoid or get round things they
are not sure of or do not know. They can show what they can do beyond what the test is
meant to test. This could be as much to their disadvantage as to their advantage.
When setting out to write tests, remember to create a balance both for yourself
and for your pupils when marking. Try to devise ways in which subjective testing (e.g.
free writing) can be put within a framework to restrict what the pupils produce (e.g.
include the following points... or compare and contrast with...) to help you make your
marking both easier and more standardised and reliable.

Discrete item vs. integrative tests

Consider the following two test items:
Test 1. Complete this sentence with a suitable word or
phrase.
A: John failed his exams, you know.
B: Well, it is his own fault, he harder.
Test 2. Read this passage and follow the instructions:
Your friend, John, had his first date last night. He played
football in the afternoon and didnt have time to have a bath. He
just brushed his teeth, changed his clothes and rushed to the
cinema. He was half an hour late. He had chosen a horror film,
and after a few minutes, the girl asked to leave. John had an
argument with her in the cinema, and then they left. They went
to a restaurant, and at the end of the meal, John told the girl she
ought to pay half the bill. In the taxi on the way home, he tried to
kiss her but she started crying.
Although it is too late, give John some advice about last
night.
Now in about 60 words, answer these questions:
a) What do these two test items have in common?

b) Which one tests one specific language item?

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.
c)
Which one demands more of the pupil in terms of
language skills?

..
.......................................................................................................
.....................
d) Which one is closer to what happens with
language in real life?

.
Test item 1 is an example of discrete item testing, while test item 2 is an
example of integrative testing.
Test item 1 isolates a particular item of language and keeps the surrounding
language to a minimum. Test item 2, on the other hand, is a small-scale example of
integrative testing because the pupil has to demonstrate a wider knowledge of English
and utilise an ability to read for gist.
The difference between discrete item and integrative testing is primarily one of
intention. When we want to know if a pupil can recognise or produce a specific item of
vocabulary or structure, a specific functional exponent or a certain pronunciation
feature, then we use discrete-item techniques. If we want to know how well a pupil can
combine her/his knowledge of grammar and vocabulary in skills work with a specific
aim, then we use integrative testing techniques.
Here are a few testing techniques you are familiar with.
Say whether they are examples of discrete testing or of
integrative testing, by writing D (discrete) or I (integrative):

essay
dictation
multiple choice
true/false
written answers to comprehension techniques
gap-filling

The discrete-item techniques have the advantage of making us consider

carefully what we are testing.
One of the chief features of the communicative approach is to appreciate the
importance of language in use, and thus to give more emphasis to language skills as
the end, and language items as the means. Thus, communicative lessons provide a
balance between items and skills. Traditional testing techniques have also been reevaluated, and tests such as dictation have been reconsidered because in doing it,
pupils have to show that they can integrate knowledge of the parts of the language in
order to demonstrate their language level and ability.
While it is recognised that some kind of integrative testing is more appropriate in
determining overall competence, this is not to say that discrete item testing techniques
have been thrown out. However, they should be used as ways of testing specific
linguistic sub-skills or language items and not as means of assessing overall
competence in a skill.

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When we need precise information about the gaps in a pupils receptive or

productive knowledge of the linguistic systems, or about her/his difficulties with specific
sub-skills which affect the overall competence in one of the four skills, then discrete item
testing will come into its own. Discrete item testing is of most use for diagnostic and
achievement / progress testing, where we are concerned with finding out what the gaps
are or with how much of our teaching has been absorbed, or what the pupil can and
cannot do.
Would you also include integrative testing techniques in
a diagnostic or a progress test? Why (not)?

Here are some common discrete item (and objective) testing techniques:
transformation
e.g. Complete these sentences:
Hes a fast runner. He runs
e.g. Change the word in capitals to fit the sentences given:
APPLY, etc.
There were a lot of for the job.
e.g. Complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning as the first:
Im thirsty, she said. / She said
e.g. Make these sentences into questions:
1. Ive got two sisters and a brother, etc.
insertion
e.g. Put the word in capitals into the right place in the sentence:
She lives in an old farmhouse. HUGE
fill in
e.g. Fill in the blanks with so, such or such a and words from the text.
Jo was so annoyed when her sister got a Walkman that she didnt speak
to her parents for days.
combination
e.g. Join these two sentences using although:
John had a cold. He went swimming.
sentence completion
e.g. My room would be all right if
re-arrangement
e.g. jumbled words, sentence, paragraphs
Find words/phrases in column B, which have a similar (in other tests, opposite)
meaning to those in column A:
A
disappear
fade
loathe
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B
moist
leave
lose colour
10

damp

dislike intensely etc.

functional sentence matching

e.g. Match the sentence with when you use it:
Could I come in there?
persuading
Is there any way I could
generalising
They tend to be dark-haired
interrupting, etc.
split-sentence matching
e.g. Combine these phrases to get sentences:
Would you mind my
open the window?
Would you mind if
opening the window?
Could I
I opened the window?
skeleton sentence
e.g. Make sentences:
This picture/paint/Van Gogh/long time ago
error analysis
e.g. Which part of the sentence is wrong?
Im frightened/that youll/feel angry/to me
A
B
C
D
e.g. Correct the following:
Do you like a cigarette?
situations
e.g. You want a day off. How would you ask...
a) your boss
b) a colleague who works with you in a busy office.
4.1 Two Popular Techniques: Multiple Choice Tests and Cloze Tests
Below are described in more detail two commonly used testing techniques:
multiple choice tests and cloze tests.
Multiple choice tests
Multiple-choice tests are examples of discrete item testing. Almost all written
exams rely on the multiple-choice technique because of its obvious scorability. It is used
primarily for comprehension testing and vocabulary testing.
A test item consists of a stem and options. The options consist of the correct
answer and a number of distractors, e.g.:
STEM: I saw him yesterday
OPTIONS: see / saw / have seen

/ had seen
4

1, 3 and 4 are DISTRACTORS. 2 is the correct answer.

The more distractors there are, the smaller the chances of pupils getting the
answer right by guesswork or luck. However, it is difficult to have a large number of
options that are not absurd.
The STEM may be:
an incomplete statement, e.g.: I . him yesterday.
a complete statement, e.g.: He got over the flu in two weeks.
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 a question, as in comprehension multiple choice.

Here are a few words of advice regarding options:
make sure that you test only one thing at a time
make sure all options are at the appropriate linguistic level of the pupils you
want to test
give only one correct option.
However, it is not impossible to have two correct options; for instance, two
correct options are possible in comprehension questions, rather than in questions that
test language elements. Even if this could reduce guesswork, make sure that all
questions have either two correct options or all have one.

do not include absurd options

avoid ungrammatical options
avoid ambiguity
to ensure face validity, have a few colleagues look it over your test.

Remember that it is useful to test major items twice in order to increase the
reliability of the score.
Here are a few advantages of multiple choice testing:

it enables objective scoring

it can easily expose language weaknesses
it encourages pupils to look at sentence context when making their choices
it is easy to mark.
Can you think of any disadvantages of multiple choice
testing? Write down as many as you can in the space provided
below.

Many teachers feel that their pupils need to be taught the skill of answering
multiple choice questions, especially comprehension questions. However this skill is
quite simple, even for text comprehension questions. Teach your pupils to:

look first at the question only, not the options

listen to (or read) the text
try to work out what they think the answer is
look at the options.

Cloze tests
Cloze tests are a type of integrative tests. A cloze test consists in a passage
usually taken from an authentic text in which every nth word is deleted. In the classic
cloze test there is, therefore, no pre-selection of the blanks, which can cover all types of
words. In order to fill in the blanks, pupils have to understand the passage as a whole
(from the context), and fill in the blanks both in accordance with the meaning and
function of the piece of discourse as a whole and in accordance with the rules of
grammar at sentence level. In doing this the learner demonstrates an ability to:
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 read or listen for gist and process the information

predict and reconstruct meaning from the contextual clues surrounding the
blanks
show an awareness of the relevant rules of co-occurrence (grammatical,
stylistic and lexical).
A cloze test is therefore a truly integrative test. The question is whether it is a
communicative test or not.
Some argue that when pupils encounter an unknown text, there are gaps in
meaning for them represented by the words they do not understand. A cloze test
reproduces this situation with the purpose of either assessing how well pupils cope with
this, or training them to make informed guesses and predictions based on existing
knowledge applied to the contextual clues available.
Another favourable point about cloze tests is that they are easy to construct, by
comparison with multiple-choice tests. All you have to do is pick a suitable text (about
250 300 words) and remove every fifth, seventh or ninth word (fifth can be too difficult
more than tenth is too easy!) Keep the first and the last sentences intact. Alternatively,
you can delete only words by part of speech or content area vocabulary.
Here is how you can create a cloze test, starting from an instructional material
given in a textbook in use. The text is taken from High Flyer, Upper Intermediate, by
Ana Acevedo and Marisol Gower, Longman, 1999, p. 17:
Anya woke up with a start. She knew straight away that today would be a
special day. She had that familiar feeling in her stomach as if lots of butterflies were
trapped and were flapping their wings, trying to escape.
She had had that feeling just before her grandmother died and when her father
was awarded a prize for his research. She felt, more than knew, most things before
anybody else had heard about them, perhaps even before they had actually happened.
To those who didnt know her well, Anya seemed strange; to those who did know her
well, she was simply special.
That bright summer morning Anya felt restless and the butterflies in her
stomach were growing stronger by the minute. She knew from experience that it was no
good fighting it: she would have to follow it.
Mum! Ive got to go out, she announced.
London was extremely hot and its streets crowded. Anya walked wherever her
feet took her, as if pulled by some invisible force. And still, the funny feeling in her
stomach was intensifying. Eventually, she reached Piccadilly Circus, which was even
busier than usual.
Shh! Take it easy, she whispered to the feeling in her stomach. Whatever it is,
it wont be long now!
He stopped to let the slow traffic advance before crossing the street. A coach
stopped right in front of her. Anya saw herself reflected in the window. Then suddenly
she realised. What she was looking at was not herself, but a boy, about her age, sitting
in the coach. Hey looked at each other with equal surprise and delight.
Anya tried to call out but no sound came out of her mouth. Just then, the coach
moved forward and disappeared in to the London traffic.
Replace the deleted words with blanks that are about the same size and
number each blank consecutively, e.g.:
She (4) had that feeling just before her grandmother died (5) when her
father was awarded a prize for (6) research. She felt, more than knew, most things
(7) anybody else had heard about them, perhaps even (8) they had actually
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happened. To those who didnt . (9) her well, Anya seemed strange; to those who
(10) know her well, she was simply special.
Three levels of difficulty can be constructed from one reading passage by
deleting every fifth, seventh or ninth word. Passages with every fifth word omitted will be
more challenging than those with every ninth word deleted. The greater the number of
blanks, the more reliable the cloze becomes as an indicator of the pupils reading ability.
Could you now mention a few differences between cloze
tests and gap-filling tests?

One important difference is that a cloze test contains unseen elements, as the
gaps are not especially chosen but are every nth word. However, the gaps can also be
distributed according to criteria such as word class, redundancy or predictability.
Although they are very easy to construct, cloze tests are not necessarily very
easy to do, and they can be frustrating for the pupils if the blanks occur too frequently
for them to have sufficient contextual clues, or if the language level of the text is above
the pupils own productive level.
In cloze tests the relationship between productive and receptive knowledge is a
close one as pupils are being asked to read the passage intensively and complete it
grammatically, so a grasp of the gist is not enough. It can be very demoralising for the
pupils to find that all they can do is recognise which part of speech can fit, but not
understand the passage sufficiently to choose a word.
To score a cloze, count all words that are semantically and syntactically correct
or contextually appropriate. Accept any word that is contextually appropriate, not only
exact word replacements. In this way you can maintain both flexibility and objectivity,
because the range of predicted responses is not limitless, since it is controlled by the
immediate and general context.

Communicative testing
How often do our tests measure the pupils communicative ability? We still
primarily test knowledge of the grammatical and lexical system with some attempt to
see how pupils put this to work in the skills. You will probably have noticed that the
examples given so far are language-based not task-based tests; the emphasis is on
what pupils know or dont know rather than what they can or cant do with the language
at their disposal.
There are several reasons for this apparent lack of relevance of testing to
teaching for communication. One of them is that greater use of communicative testing
still awaits the resolution of many issues in communicative materials design and
communicative methodology.
Another reason for the delay relates specifically to one of the problems of a
communicative view of the language: what constitutes a core syllabus for
communicative purposes? What functions and notions need to be developed?
As there is some uncertainty of how to test communicative ability in a way
appropriate to the work done in class, we continue to test the language as before. We
know that in this way we can at least rely on that for information about our pupils grasp
of the linguistic system. This reveals at least something about communicative ability,
especially at lower levels. A lack of knowledge of the basic tenses for instance will
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seriously impede and limit effective communication. We may even use integrative tests
such as cloze tests to give us information about the pupils ability to process the
language. These tests will tell us at what level the pupils can process language and
what language (broadly speaking) they can process.
However, we often find that either the result does not accord with our subjective
assessment of the pupils overall ability in class or we get a shock when our pupils
appear that they cant use what they know to communicate. This poses the problem:
what should the criteria for communicative testing be, if existing tests are inadequate as
a measure of communicative ability?
Let us now look at some of the features of language use that do not seem to be
measured in conventional tests.
Interaction-based
In the vast majority of cases, language in use is based on an interaction. Even
cases such as letter writing can be considered as weak forms of interaction as they
involve an addressee, whose expectations will be taken into account by the writer.
These expectations will affect both the content of the message and the way in which it is
expressed.
A more characteristic form of interaction is represented by face-to-face oral
interaction that involves not only the adaptation of expression and content but also a
combination of receptive and productive skills. What is said by a speaker depends
crucially on what is said to him.
Unpredictability
The development of an interaction is unpredictable. The processing of
unpredictable data in real time is a vital aspect of using language.
Context
Any use of language takes place in a context, and the language forms that are
appropriate vary in accordance with this context. Thus a language user must be able to
handle appropriacy in terms of both context of situation (e.g. physical environment,
role/status of participants, attitude/formality) and linguistic context (e.g. textual
cohesion).
Purpose
Every utterance is made for a purpose. Thus a language user must be able to
recognise why a certain remark has been addressed to her/him, and be able to encode
appropriate utterances to achieve her/his own purposes.
Performance
The pupils actual use of language.
Authenticity
The characteristic of language that is not simplified to take account of the
linguistic level of the addressee. An important feature of the pupils ability to use
authentic language is their capacity to come to terms with what is unknown.
Behaviour-based
The success or failure of an interaction is judged by its participants based on
behavioural outcomes. More emphasis needs to be placed in a communicative context
on the notion of behaviour.

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A test of communication must take as its starting point the measurement of

what the pupils can actually achieve through language. None of the tests we have
considered has set themselves this task.

Involving pupils in handling testing

Involving pupils in marking
Here are a few ideas that you can use so that pupils mark the test themselves.
In this way, you can distinguish between careless mistakes and real misunderstandings
or gaps in their knowledge; pupils also get some individual attention from you.
Here is the procedure for this objective:
1. When a pupil thinks s/he has finished, and brings the test to you, check it
without ticking or crossing, but merely writing the number of mistakes at the bottom. The
pupil then goes back and tries to find and correct the mistakes.
2. The pupil comes back, and if there are still mistakes, this time you indicate
roughly where the mistakes are e.g. in that line or No. 4.
3. The pupil comes back again. This time, if necessary, you indicate the type of
mistakes.
4. If you cannot correct the test on the spot, make sure the pupil learns the
correct form through remedial work as soon as possible.
5. Take the tests in to get an overview of what general remedial work is
necessary.
Could you explain what advantages you see in involving
pupils in marking?

As you look at a progress test, consider:

what level the test is aimed at
what aspects of language are being tested (i.e. grammar, vocabulary,
pronunciation, style)
what aspects of skill are being tested, if any
whether functional/communicative ability is being tested
whether each test item tests what it means to test.
Involving pupils in constructing tests
Here are some steps you may want to follow, when your pupils already have
experience of progress tests written by you.
1. Choose a grammatical or lexical area that is not too complicated, or tell your
pupils to look back over work done during a given period.
2. Give them plenty of time in groups to prepare the test and homework time for
writing it up.

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3. Give examples of a few techniques they might use.

4. Make sure they have understood that they must limit what they test to what
has been covered in their class.
5. Supervise the test writing to make sure the tests are correct. In this way the
writing of the test will act both as a learning tool and as further practice.
6. Facilitate the writing by (a) grouping the pupils appropriately (e.g. avoid
putting all the weak pupils together), and make sure there is a good mixture in each
group; (b) have 3 or 4 groups and give each group a specific area to test.
When you administer the test, you can photocopy neatly written versions for
class or homework. A scoring system must also be worked out.
What could be, in your opinion, the advantages of such
an approach to testing?

However, problems can occur with students less willing to take responsibility for
their own learning, and it can be time-consuming. Therefore it is possibly best used with
classes who are used to group work. It is also important to limit what is asked of them to
test, either by the size and number of areas, or by the number of questions they have
to produce.

Alternative assessment
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the application of
assessment procedures that are different from traditional forms of assessment. Forms
of assessment such as portfolios, interviews, journals, project work, and self- or peer
assessment have become increasingly common in the EFL classroom. These forms of
assessment are more student-centered as they involve more the students in their
learning and give them a better sense of control for their own learning. They can show
what the students can do in the foreign language. Students are evaluated on what they
can integrate and produce rather than on what they are able to recall and reproduce.
The main goal of alternative assessment is to gather evidence about how students are
approaching, processing, and completing real-life tasks in a particular domain (Garcia
and Pearson, 1994: 357).
Advantages of alternative assessment
These forms of assessment are called alternative, authentic or informal. These
new forms of assessment focus more on measuring learners ability to use language
holistically in real-life situations and is typically carried out continuously over a period of
time. In this way, a more accurater picture of students language profile can be
obtained.
The new forms of assessment focus on communication, rather than on
language, they are learner-centered rather than teacher-centered; they deal with
integrated skills rather than on isolated skills; they emphaseze the process rather than
the product; they involve open-ended, multiple solutions, rather than one answer or oneway correctness; they not only test but also teach.

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Alternative assessment provides alternatives to traditional testing in that it (a)

does not intrude on regular classroom activities; (b) reflects the curriculum that is
actually being implemented in the classroom; (c) provides information on the strengths
and weaknesses of each individual student; (d) provides multiple indices that can be
used to gauge student progress; and (e) is more multiculturally sensitive and free from
norm, linguistic, and cultural biases found in traditional testing. (Huerta-Macias A., 339)
Alternative assessment procesures are nonintrusive to the classroom because
they do not require a separate block of time to implement them, as do traditional tests.
Moreover, the same day-to-day activities that a student is engaged in (e.g. writing, roleplaying, group discussion) are the basis for alternative assessment. Thus, little or no
change is required in classroom routines and activities to implement alternative
assessment. Because alternative assessment is based on the daily classroom activities,
it also reflects the curriculum, unlike traditional, standardized tests that are often test
skills incongruent with classroom practices (e.g. none of the above). Furthermore,
because the data collected are based on real-life tasks, alternative assessment
provides information on the strengths as well as the weaknesses of the student.A work
sample, may tell the teacher that a students strong points are with the mechanics of
English but that s/he needs additional work on vocabulary and organization of a written
piece. Alternative assessment provides a menu of possibilities, rather than any one
single method for assessment. Thus, student growth can be more reliably assessed
because information from various sources is included in the process. Finally, these
procedures are not normedinstruments, and they are based on student performance in
real-life tasks.
Alternative assessemnt procedures
Al;though it is unlikely that any one procedure will fil the needs of a given group
of students, the idea is to adopt and/or adapt existing instruments in such a way that
they reflect the goals of the class and the activities being implemented in that classroom
to meet those goals. Alternative assessment procedures include, for example, the use
of checjlists of student behaviour or productsm journals, reading logs, videos of roleplays, audiotapes of discussions, self-evaluation questionnaires, work samples, and
teacher observations and anecdotal records. The teacher and students can
collaboratively decide which procedures are to be used for assessment in a given class.
Individual students are also often given the responsibility of selecting specific products
of their work (published pieces, for instance) on which they will be assessed.
Validity, reliability, and objectivity
Objections to alternative assessment are often voiced in terms of validity,
reliability and objectivity. The following can be done to ensure reliability in alternative
assessment:
designing multiple tasks that lead to the same outcome;
using trained judges, working with clear criteria, from specific anchor
paper or performance behaviours;
monitoring periodically to ensure that raters use criteria and standards in
a consistent manner.
Portfolio assessment
A typical writing portfolio contains the students total writing output to represent
his/her overall performance, but it may also contain only a selection of works which the
student has chosen for the teacher to evaluate. In other words, portfolios show a
students work from the beginning of the term to the end, giving both teacher and
student a chance to assess how much the latters writing has progressed. In order for
students to take responsibility for their own learning, ownership of their own choices and
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actions is an all-important consideration. This is a real step towards learner autonomy.

In the traditional approach, ownership of work and learning is looked upon more as the
responsibility of the teacher than of the learner. However, when students actively
participate in the selection and discussion of their work, they gain a true sense of
ownership, which results in personal satisfaction and feelings of self-worth. Portfolios
must be developed as follows (Farr and Lowe, 1991: 79):

Teachers and students both add materials to the portfolio;

Students are viewed as the owners of the portfolios;
Conferencing between students and the teacher is an inherent activity in
portfolio assessment;
Conference notes and reflections of both teacher and the student are
kept in the portfolio;
Portfolios need to reflect a wide range of students work and not only that
which the teacher or student decides is the best.
Samples of the students reading and writing activities are collected in
the portfolios, including unfinished projects.

Portfolios offer a good vehicle for assessment because (a) they typically contain
a variety of different samples of student work, and (b) they make it easy to separate
evaluation from the process of instruction.
Portfolios may be used as a holistic process for evaluating course work and for
promoting learner autonomy. Portfolios provide a sound basis on which to document
individual student progress because they incorporate a range of assessment strategies
over an extended period of time.
Learning logs
See the lecture on Developing Writing Skills.
Journal entries
Journal entries may be used as an informal means of assessment by the
teacher because they are personal and intimate. The teacher can write short notes in
response to students thoughts. Just as in portfolio assessment, journal entries may be
a source of conferencing. See also the lecture on Developing Writing Skills.
Dialogue journals
See the lecture on Developing Writing Skills.

Summary
Most of this unit deals with formal testing. This is done though placement,
diagnosis, progress, proficiency, selection, and aptitude tests. You are probably mainly
interested in the first three, though you may be asked to construct or administer
placement tests, too.
The criteria of test assessment are also discussed: validity, reliability, scorability
and administrablity.
The testing techniques include discrete items (used in testing grammar,
vocabulary, functional exponents, pronunciation, style and include such test items as
gap filling), integrative tests (which make use of skills and global awareness of
language; examples of integrative tests: cloze, dictation, reading aloud); and
communicative tests (which test all skills). All these testing techniques have their place
in the testing system.
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Bear in mind that when testing you need to consider: the pupils' educational
background, their language level, the pupils' age and the emphasis of the syllabus you
are using: is it structural? functional? skill-based?
Remember that tests are as important to pupils as they are to you. Since they
constitute a formal measure of progress or current language level, they are very
motivating targets for pupils to work towards. The degree of formality with which you
administer the test will depend on the educational expectations of the pupils and the
relationship that you have built up with them.

Further Reading
Harmer, J., 2001, The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman, pp. 321 - 334
Heaton J. B., Writing English Language Tests, Longman.
Huerta-Macas, Ana. Alternative Assessment: Responses to Commonly Asked
Questions in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya, Willy A., 2002. Methodology in
Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.
Peaflorida, Andreea H., Nontraditional Forms of Assessment and Response to Student
Writing in Richards, Jack C. and Renandya, Willy A., 2002. Methodology in
Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.
Richards Jack C. and Renandya, Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: CUP.
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